Conversion to 8-rib serpentine system

[TooManyHobbies]

Next bug is about the alternator pulley. See the photos below. Is the 5 mm that needs to be machined off the part that my index finger is touching? I took the useless plastic cover off of the front of my stock alternator pulley tonight and I still do not have a clue how the pulley is attached. It seems to have some weird huge torx hole under the cover. Can you give any more detail here?

[Doug Hilliard]

All the parts have arrived, so it is time to bug Doug again. For the lower idler (89102) there is a deep side and a shallow side. The 5 mm gets machined off which side? I assume the shallow side since you put a washer behind it. Also the extra belt width is to the front of the engine. Correct me if I am wrong.

Good question! You are correct; it comes off the shallow side.

Next bug is about the alternator pulley. See the photos below. Is the 5 mm that needs to be machined off the part that my index finger is touching? I took the useless plastic cover off of the front of my stock alternator pulley tonight and I still do not have a clue how the pulley is attached. It seems to have some weird huge torx hole under the cover. Can you give any more detail here?

I wish I could give more detail but an alternator shop got it off for me and put the new pulley on, but didn't realize it was not spinning freely so I had to change it. My pulley looks a little different than yours but I don't think you will need to take any off the part your index finger is on; rather you will need to take a little off the flange face...the same idea as on the lower idler pulley. Your alternator has a recess from its face to the bearing the shaft is mounted in so the boss your index finger is on will go against this bearing surface but the pulley itself will rub on the housing surface of the alternator, hence you just take off the extra meat on that surface without removing the raised flange that the edge of the belt rides against. Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I'll try to explain again or feel free to give me a call at (919) 522-4678. Remember too, once you get the stock pulley off, there will be a raised ring on the face of the alternator that will need to be removed. I filed mine down but a grinder should work faster; just make sure you tape all the openings up really well as loose metal chips are bad for bearings and electrical devices!

Have fun!

[TooManyHobbies]

Not much material to remove on the pulley I received. It is basically the flange and that is it. I think this may be one of those disassemble and then see things.

[Doug Hilliard]

Sure does! It wasn't difficult once I had it on my hands and could look closely. The biggest thing is to get the belt position right so you might try measuring the existing position (inside groove) relative to a feature on the face of the alternator and figure it out from there.

[TooManyHobbies]

I will do some measuring tonight. Looks like I can remove maybe 2 mm max. Hopefully I do not need to remove any, but that would raise the question about why two identical part numbers from the same manufacturer are different.

[Doug Hilliard]

I will do some measuring tonight. Looks like I can remove maybe 2 mm max. Hopefully I do not need to remove any, but that would raise the question about why two identical part numbers from the same manufacturer are different.

I just looked at what remains of the original alternator pulley, which is a one-way clutch design by the way to free-wheel when the engine is in decel; once you get the front off I think you can get to the bolt that holds it one and remove with an impact driver but I can't tell for sure. Hopefully it won't be too bad. On the new pulley, mine looks yellow-chromate coated instead of black like yours so maybe they've changed it - no idea. I measured the distance from the hub that your index finger is on to the surface of the inside flange on the stock part just now and it's 4mm so I'd measure the same dimension on your part and if it's close, maybe you'll get lucky and not need to modify anything!

[TooManyHobbies]

I just looked at what remains of the original alternator pulley, which is a one-way clutch design by the way to free-wheel when the engine is in decel; once you get the front off I think you can get to the bolt that holds it one and remove with an impact driver but I can't tell for sure. Hopefully it won't be too bad. On the new pulley, mine looks yellow-chromate coated instead of black like yours so maybe they've changed it - no idea. I measured the distance from the hub that your index finger is on to the surface of the inside flange on the stock part just now and it's 4mm so I'd measure the same dimension on your part and if it's close, maybe you'll get lucky and not need to modify anything!

I just measured the new part. 4 mm from hub surface to side of flange

[Doug Hilliard]

I just measured the new part. 4 mm from hub surface to side of flange

Saweeet!!!

[TooManyHobbies]

Thanks to tking and his machinist buddy I have a slightly thinner pulley. The car is up on ramps tonight, I will get started tomorrow after work.

[Doug Hilliard]

Very nice! Looking forward to hearing the good news! Tell Tim I said hello!