What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Serpentine belt conversion - what to look for?

RootBreaker

RootBreaker

3/4 ton status
 Premium
GMOTM Winner
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Posts
6,998
Reaction score
1,423
Location
Williamstown, NJ USA
ok so ive got to teach a kid how to do his brakes this weekend, then I think I'm heading over to the local u pull it yard. gonna see if I can find anything with a motor that could work. so I have a 1991 caprice police 350.. yeah I know, I ditched all that serp stuff back in 1997 and didn't know better... but I am going to go to the Pontiac transport 140a alternator and I'm told V-belts will slip or throw under a good load... so time to go serpentine setup and throw that 140a alternator in. ive got the stuff for that swap...

gimme ideas what to look for and also I know I just read, I need a new water pump (reverse rotation)...

or if you have all the stuff, lemme know... I also read the alternator switches to the drivers side, but even though I do not have AC, don't forget the bracket as someone sells a kit, think basically puts a pulley in that spot so you can still use the standard belt.

thx for any input...
 
When I converted to serpentine I just went to junk yards and looked for 88+ trucks for parts. Afaik, the driver side bracket is pretty standard but there are 2 versions of the passenger side - one with smog pump, one without. The pass side bracket without the smog pump is more common on 4.3 trucks, either style will work but without is much cleaner looking. Grab the bolts too.

The bypass pulley for the a/c spot is common and available at most parts places for about $40.

Don't forget that you'll need the water pump, crank, power steering, tensioner and idler pullies. If you run a belt driven fan you'll need the reverse fan clutch and blade also.
 
4.3 v6 stuff on mid 70's 400 sbc

as said all brackets / rods / bolts / water pump / fan if staying engine driven / sbc or 4.3 v6 stuff .

take a power steering pulley puller with you . you need the pulley removed to pull the pump to pull the hidden bolt to the block for the bracket . only need to keep the pulley and bolts holding the pump to the bracket . the studs are E-torques socket drive that hold the brackets to the engine face . the nuts are reg tho so just need a way to pull them if you plan to reuse them .

the coolant thermostat neck is required also as is the upper rad hose . this helps clear the alt position .

as said no a/c = bypass pulley kit new or junk yard . and you can get just a new pulley/bearing unit if there bad cheeper than new unit . get the 3 bolts tho as there not included in the bypass kit . the nut is removed then the bolt slides out do NOT spin the bolt as it indexes a flat on the bracket to hold it in place .

a pry bar to help slide the a/c comp up and out along with the alt as they have pinch tubes when the bolt is tight .

maybe grab the serp belt pulley from the alt or if dirt cheep the whole alt for the pulley to swap on your alt if reusing one that will pop in the bracket . some do some dont depending on design .

diy4x kirt offers a york mount for the a/c spot also if you want on-board air setup .

0220192044a.jpg
 
Looks like everything was covered already.
So I'll only say this. If you haven't bought the Pontiac 140 yet, skip it. With the serpentine set up you have more choices. Even if the bolt pattern is a little different, you can throw a much larger ALT in there and something from a newer vehicle.
See what you can find from the junkyard. Anything 90s-2010s will fit. It was some time ago, so my memory might be fuzzy...I think I was looking for an ALT from a 2000s Silverado. Maybe an AD244. I ended up buying, on accident, an DR44.
This ALT needed one of the holes in the mount opened up and changed to a bolt/nut combo. This thing is a BEAST. Only charges at 13.5v because I'm not running a computer to it. I would need to change the regulator on the back. I haven't though, not needed. With everything on (fans,lights, radio, etc) it drops to 13.2v. That's more than sufficient AND in a huge case for better cooling.
 
yeah, better options out there for ya RB
I personally drilled the bracket hole out. I'm not going back to a stock ALT. :D
 
sweetk30 said:
my setup i have a 210 amp alt .

its based off the cs144 platform with bigger guts inside . she does up to 125 amp at idle and 210 by 3k rpm .

View attachment 300618

View attachment 300619

View attachment 300620

View attachment 300621
Click to expand...

what does that come out of?
I'm gonna install, most likely, a smittybilt 17.5k gen2 x20 winch and I'm reading upwards of 400+ amp draw!!!!! so my current 60a alternator will cry, thus the need for the bigger one.
I was going to just do it after 8.1L upgrade but selling that motor so have to look back at the transport alt...140a for now... its a starting point...
 
nvrenuf said:
If you run a belt driven fan you'll need the reverse fan clutch and blade also.
Click to expand...

whelp I do run a V belt fan; however, I bought all the stuff to do a windstar fan upgrade... some if it is all over the garage. I bought everything including the 2 different thermostats, wires, relays, etc.. to run one fan or both plus switch to kill it for mud holes or water crossing, etc...

like usual.. buying things and not installing for years. took me 3y to get my rear disc installed.. had parts.. just never did it...
 
Does this seem like a worthy price? $150 for everything.. waterpump...alt and ps pump...not that id use any of them...

Screenshot_20190417-201248_Craigslist Postings.jpg
 
IMO, no. I paid $30 for the 2 big brackets, water pump and p/s pullies at a u-pull-it. I would not pay for the pumps and alternator if you aren’t going to use them (not that I’d use a used water pump anyway).
 
RootBreaker said:
I'm reading upwards of 400+ amp draw!!!!! so my current 60a alternator will cry, thus the need for the bigger one.
Click to expand...
This is why people use big batteries and/or deeper cycle batteries for winching. Any normal alternator is overwhelmed, so you can't winch continuously and dip into the battery reserve. Really just powering the winch in and out with no load pretty much uses all of your alternator capacity. Typically a hard pull doesn't take long, so you're fine. You could run dual ambulance alternators to obtain near-constant duty capability, but some of the worst situations you need to extract from will have the engine stalled.

So basically you just need an alternator that can deliver at idle more than all of your other on-board stuff consumes. It's nice to have way to raise the idle while winching.
 
Blue85 said:
This is why people use big batteries and/or deeper cycle batteries for winching. Any normal alternator is overwhelmed, so you can't winch continuously and dip into the battery reserve. Really just powering the winch in and out with no load pretty much uses all of your alternator capacity. Typically a hard pull doesn't take long, so you're fine. You could run dual ambulance alternators to obtain near-constant duty capability, but some of the worst situations you need to extract from will have the engine stalled.

So basically you just need an alternator that can deliver at idle more than all of your other on-board stuff consumes. It's nice to have way to raise the idle while winching.
Click to expand...

my previous winch I had 2 batteries in the bed that were in parallel.. think they were D sized... think someone said that.. they had a rope handle on each side...
but never got to use my winch.

I emailed Smittybilt for recommendations and they told me that if truck isn't running, ill kill the batteries in seconds so unless I'm running, 1 or 2 batteries wont be enough...
 
Good thread. I was a the wreckers after work today for a quick browse. I only found vehicles with AC setups for the serpentine system.
Any one have a pic (similar to the one sweetk30 provided) of serpentine system WITHOUT a/c?
I'd really like to do the serpentine upgrade on the 350 Burb when I replace the knocking motor this summer.

I'm also on the look out for a serpentine conversion for my K30 1985 454 as I am mounting a Warn M1200 in the rear (and keep my Braden PTO winch in the front). I want that 210amp alternator!
I'll start a separate thread for the MarkIV 454 serpentine conversion....any help appreciated on that one!
 
Here's a few pics for you @Ned Kelly , this is the 454 in my Blazer.

Edit: I should explain better - Kwik Performance makes a bracket kit to put an SBC serpentine set up on a BBC. The only odd part is the crank pulley which KP provides a part number for.

Kwik Performance conversion brackets

full


Everything on the motor

full


Better pic of the a/c delete pulley (motor fully dressed)

full
 
a/c delete is just that bolt on bracket and pulley were the pump would be .

kwik performance has a super nice kit . and NOW offers a spacer to use the sbc pulley and not try and find the gm rare pulley .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom