Thread: Opinions Please..

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Something that has irked me for a while and I finally thought I'd see if anyone else feels the same. The change over from Vee Belt to Serpentine and the part that just bugs me is the mountings.. These huge blocks of aluminum that span across the whole front of the engine.. a bit obnoxious in my own opinion. So what say you? LOL..

My limited experiences with serpentine belts is that you have to just about demolish the front of the car to get the damned thing on and rotating all the pulleys in their correct direction.
Its always seemed easier (to me anyway,) with a 2 / 3 belt system.

On my coupe I opted for a hybrid, the Rocky Hinge front drive setup that's like a serpentine system for bracketry but uses v-belts, likely not to your liking for the billet aluminum. On the roadster it's a traditional v-belt system. I'm OK with the billet front drive systems, but also good with the old school belts & pulleys.

They both have advantages and disadvantages and since I'm pretty much old school I'll stick with v belt as my favorite. The 04 Dakota is serpentine and probably the newest I'll ever own and the "Vette" is v belt and will stay that way as long as I own it.

I agree that some are simply huge for no real reason. Every one of them adds 3-6 inches of length, maybe more, to the engine. I recently read a post on another forum where a guy was complaining about over heating on a 40 Ford. The picture showed a gigantic front drive that was shoved right up behind the radiator like a cork in a bottle. I suggested that there was most likely no airflow due to there being nowhere for the air to go. A simple V-belt setup would have freed up a lot of airspace directly behind the radiator. Basically, I was told the guy spent a ton of money on that setup and wasn't changing it.

I also think, that like big wheels (over about 17"), serpentine drives can look out of place on older cars. They just don't "fit in" to the overall look of the car.

Others are poorly designed. A fellow I know broke several studs on his aftermarket LS front drive near the power steering pump. Finally, the small tab that took the stud broke off the block. Whoever designed that setup put way too much stress on that dinky little cast iron tab.

I think Holley got it as right as it can be with their mid-mount setup for the LS. Everything mounts to the custom water pump housing and it is about as compact as you are going to build a full accessory drive, but it still adds length that was to be dealt with. BTW - The Holley setup was how we salvaged my friends damaged block. Wasn't cheap, but was a LOT cheaper than replacing the 406 stroker short block.

I tend to go with V belts on my builds. JMO but the Serpentine setups seem a bit cluttered, (mostly due the to brackets as mentioned) and to me look kind of out of place on an older engine/car.

I have a huge selection of old pulleys on hand so I can generally come up with what I need when I'm building something.

I also usually try to set it up so I have 2 belts going around the water pump so if a pulley seizes or belt breaks I can limp it in some where.


ACB by M Patterson, on Flickr



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Well... in general I think the Mikes all think alike LOL.. Thanks to everyone for their input.

For me, not having a big stash of pulleys in various offsets, it's a ton easier to find a front drive setup that aligns everything, and hopefully doesn't break the bank. I've been happy with Rocky Hinge in that arena, but that's just my comfort zone.

Yep Roger, this is one of those areas where the golden rule applies. You know, "He who is spending the gold makes the rules." I also don't have a stash of pulleys.

In my opinion serp belts are generally more reliable, but too ugly for any classic car that you want to look good.

They are very reliable and have more "traction" on the pulleys which is great when running 100 plus amp alternators. On my coupe after the car has been sitting for months and I get it started the alternator pulley will squeal in protest as the charging system wants/needs to go to max voltage for a short time. Once the battery gets close to 14 volts it all quiets down, doesn't take long. I'd expect if I had a serpentine system in place that wouldn't happen. Do I care that it does this? Nope! After the first start it won't do it again until I ignore the car for months. As an aside - I just had an opportunity to replace a Vee Belt on one of our farm tractors, A 1988 Kubota 2250. I replaced the original belt! Nothing wrong with that imho regarding longevity!

Remember bsck in the day that every gas station and parts stores all had hundreds of hoses and belts hanging on the wall????????

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Remember bsck in the day that every gas station and parts stores all had hundreds of hoses and belts hanging on the wall????????

Yep. I worked in a few of them. Also carried rotors caps points condensors, even a few starters and alternators too. Ah, the good ol' days 8-)

Originally Posted by 34_40

Yep. I worked in a few of them. Also carried rotors caps points condensors, even a few starters and alternators too. Ah, the good ol' days 8-)

Yep.
It's called 'progress,'

Originally Posted by johnboy

Yep.
It's called 'progress,'

Sometimes a most un-welcome word.