Thread: For Don Shilady

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Still here after a long pause. Since last message a rack and pinion from Speedway was installed on the Brookville-29 frame. It was supposed to be a 2 hour installation, HAH! A week is more like it since an added steering rod standoff had to be welded into the side of the frame with the usual delays waiting for small parts but it steers much easier and precise now. Then in August on a 100 degree F. day I went to a local Friday meet and the electric water pump failed. I learned that the lifetime of electric water pumps is measured in MINUTES (3000 minutes) not thousands of miles (only about 3000 miles over four years) and so the pump had to come off. On my Model A front end the radiator and hood had to be removed along with headlight wiring and oil cooler lines which gave access to the same removals for a cam change so I bit the economic bullet and purchased an Edelbrock performer plus cam (lift 0.420/0.442 and 204/214 degrees at 0.050") which is only at the "stage 1" level above my previous Blue Racer street cam along with a Stage one water pump and replaced the Edelbrock RPM intake with an Edelbrock EPS intake, preferring low rpm torque rather than high rpm H.P. The prices for the cam and EPS intake were enticingly low through Walmart on-line ordering. It was good to check on other things while making the changes and two of the"Sportsman roller tip rockers" were found to have bent roller pins so all the rockers were replaced by Comp aluminum roller tip rockers. The main reason for this message is that removing the electric pump required a short water pump bracket for the alternator. However, I now need to add a second belt to make sure I am driving the water pump sooooo can anyone suggest a belt tension idler for the second belt? There are two grooves for a 3/8" V-belt on the pump and the crank but I need to add a tension pulley for the second belt. The present alternator is on the upper passenger-side head to fit under the narrow hood. I ignored the modern serpentine belts and pulleys in favor of a V-belt for ease of replacement if I lose a belt out somewhere out of cell phone range so I need a 3/8" V-belt tension pulley that can use some of the remaining accessory holes in the 882 heads. I previously traded a set of camel hump heads for exhaust porting of the 882 heads just to get the extra accessory bolt holes and I hope that will pay off now. Short water pump setups with V-belts are less common than the elaborate March serpentine setups but I want a V-belt setup with two belts. Any suggestions with a part number? I won't know about new performance of cooling until I can run the motor to break in the cam but I am hoping so get a reliable setup that will last for quite a few thousand miles.

Retired Scientist/Teen age rodder
Don Shillady