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| [ Back ] Day Six - April 24, 2001 Ah, the little things. Picked up the bar-stock bolt ($30!), a 47.5" 6-rib belt ($28!!) and got busy putting everything together for a final trial fit.
The bolt turned out to be about 3 threads too long where it screws into the head but a few strokes of a hacksaw solved that problem. Alternator goes on next, followed by the lower alternator bracket. Has to be in that particular order since the lower bracket has to slide over the 3/8" thread of that expensive bolt. Note the routing of the heater hose from the water pump. A short formed hose and a shower head extension solved the interference issues here. It's behind the alternator and is barely visible.
Everything bolted up (temporarily) and test fit of the guessed-at length alternator belt. Looking pretty good up to now. The 18" flex fan still hits the crank pulley, just barely, but at least now it clears the alternator. Next was a trial fit with the fan attached and the radiator in place. With only 2" of space between the fan and the radiator, a 3/4" to 1" spacer will still give me enough room to get my hand in to tighten the fan bolts (hopefully); otherwise, it's pull the radiator to remove the fan.
Day Seven - April 25, 2001 Looked all over the web for fan spacers only to find just what I had in my own junk box...1 3/4" long. Too long. Finally found a 1/2" and a 1" spacer at one of our local O'Reilly's, imagine that. Too pooped tonight to do any work on it though. I've had the radiator in and out so many times, my knuckles are scraping the ground. With luck I can get it back running tomorrow. Day Eight - April 26, 2001 Bolted everything up using the 1/2" spacer and it all clears. Well, almost. Because the fan used to be positioned "correctly" at half in and half out of the shroud I never gave it a second thought. Moving the fan forward with the spacer and the wider pulley, the part that used to clear, now doesn't. So it's off to the parts store again to get a 16" fan to replace the 17.5". It's either that or run without the fan shroud and I'd prefer to use it. Day Nine - April 27, 2001 - Day of rest Day Ten - April 28, 2001 Made another parts run today to pick up a new flex fan. Old one was 17.5" and new one is 16.75" - just enough to fit inside the fan shroud. Only trouble is (sheesh, again?) the old flex fan was about flexed out, new one is about 1/2" taller. So, it's off with the 1/2" fan spacer and on with the 1" spacer. Using the supplied alternator adjuster brings the alternator closer to the fan and, naturally, the new fan hits the nose cover of the alternator. So, off comes the nose cover and everything - EVERYTHING now fits. Well, except the alternator belt - need to get a shorter one now. The fan spacer bolts need to be about 1/4" longer so it's off to the hardware store for some good grade 8 bolts. Note: I used Hayden fan spacers but any brand should work.
I just hope it's years and years before I ever have to replace anything. In order to pull the fan, the shroud has to come off and hang on the alternator/water pump/etc. just to get to the fan bolts. Once the radiator is in I'm not sure the bolts would even come out without pulling the radiator. Even removing/replacing the radiator is an exercise due to the bottom hose bung. Remember that *custom* barstock bolt I had made? I tried painting it black but it just didn't look right so I was going to have it chromed. While picking up some too-short bolts today, I was in the plumbing area of the hardware store and spotted a replacement shower head pipe. Hmmm...a little grinding down of the hex on the bolt, a little pipe cutting and grinding the inside of the pipe and voilà, a custom chrome cover!
Still have the power steering hose problem to work out but that shouldn't be a problem - ever the optimist! Day Eleven - April 29, 2001 Day of rest to watch the California 500. Ok, race is over. Day Twelve - April 30, 2001 Finally, an alternator belt that fits with the supplied turnbuckle adjuster. Spec sheet recommends a 42.7" belt - too short. A 44" was too long, but a 43.3" was just right. So, everything is buttoned up on the belts, pulleys, etc. Since the radiator is out, I figured I'd have it hot tanked, cleaned, and pressure tested. Took a big chance and sent old alternator bracket, hood hinges, hood latch and hood striker out to be chromed. I'm told three weeks...and Nashville is only four weeks. We'll see. Day - aw, who cares? - May 5, 2001 Got around to finishing everything off. Radiator is in, new
belts, new fan, etc. I used the existing power steering hoses
for now but will look into braided type later. Fan clears the
shroud with no problems. Two March items I cannot use are the
nose cover for the water pump and the nose cover for the alternator.
Maybe when the *old* alternator bracket comes back, I'll
use it along with the 48" ($24.00!) belt. This will move
the alternator further away from the fan allowing the alternator
nose to be used.
Parts list as best as I can remember: March 23050 serpentine kit Note: March now recommends a 44.5" alternator belt and a 39" power steering belt on their web site. I don't think a 44.5" belt will work. I could not even use a 44" belt. I used a 43.5" belt and the adjustment turnbuckle is just about at its limit. I also have a 43.3" belt that is a little better but very tough to get on. A 43" belt is impossible to get on. I would question the 39" power steering belt as well. I can't see another two inches of adjustment. Was it worth it? A tentative yes. It cleans up the front of the engine quite a bit and hopefully the new belts will give me good service. Would I do it again? Again, a tentative yes. I did miss a couple of local shows and I procrastinated too long on getting the chrome work done, but it was fun to get back into doing something new to the car. Updates:
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