April Tech Session - Idler pulley

I would like to gauge the interest in the idler pulley part of this tech session.  There will be all the regular stuff going on that day too but I'm offering everyone the opportunity to have this useful modification done to their stock V6's.

If you have a stock 2.8L, 3.1L or 3.4L motor in your car this is a great enhancement.  It makes your alternator belt function much better and in turn last a lot longer.

This thread outlines what I built for myself:

http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=227 8

What I am offering to do is build the bracket you need to mount the pulley itself.  Once you have this part you also need to buy a pulley, a bolt and a longer belt.  Other than those additional parts, it's a simple bolt on affair.

I will supply the brackets for $30.  I will supply everyone with the proper part numbers for the additional goodies needed.

On the day, we all get together and do the modifications.  It will be a great time doing something useful to our cars.

Pipe up if you think this would be a fun project.

The Dawg

I just checked my car, and I have a nylon idler, however it is on the wrong side of the belt, so it has ribs on it.  I also have a metal smooth tensioner on the motor as well on the other side.  All the extra pulleys were due to deleting the A/C and Power Steering pumps.

Sorry to get your hopes up, I honestly thought it was a smooth nylon pulley.

I spent over 2 hours poking around the Internet and the Lordco site.  They all use the same pulley.  There are some different ones but over all I kept finding the same item.

So just about any GM metal idler with a smooth face and a single bearing will work.  If it looks like the one in that picture above, it's the right one.

I'll bring the idler in question to the next meeting as soon as I get a confirmed participant.

Then everyone can have a good look at it.

The Dawg

Since I would need 3 or 4 people involved in this to make it viable I'm going to declare a deadline for registration.

This is going to be in about a week.  So that is Sunday March 13th.

I'm looking at the calender and realizing I need prep time to make this all happen.  Next month will be a busy one for me.

Cheers,

The Dawg

I would like the pulley set up.if u post the part #'s and the price before next weekend.i would like to see what they go for in the states see if they are cheaper or not.i'm going down for 2 weeks.thanks Dawg

Update:

I've decided to simply fabricate a custom shoulder bolt for this project.  As suspected, 17mm bolts are not common.

So I bought a bunch of long shoulder bolts which I will modify for our purposes.  So the fee is now $35 and obviously includes the bolt now.

Here's some pics:






This is what the wheel looks like:






Once I finish the new design I will shorten and thread the bolts to their final size.  This should be a very clean install.

The Dawg

I think you will find that you need to put a few washers behind the pulley or it will rub on the back side.  (Found this from experience on my 4.9)

Had some time today to work on the idler project.  Here's the shoulder bolt and the stand off it will screw into.







Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the bracket done.  Then it's off to Dave's to dry fit it to the spare motor he has there.  If all goes well, I'll then start making the rest of them.

The Dawg

OK.  I've got all the info I need to complete the final design.  I was over at Dave's today and had a chance to do a trial fit.  You will notice that the wheel is sticking out a little too much.  So I'm going to shorten the post to compensate.  And the slots I cut are wider than they need to be so 1/2" it is.

Other than those two minor changes it's all good.  As you can see, the alternator adjustment is about half range.  We're good!





This weekend I should have all 4 done.

Just a note.  The 4th one is a spare.  If anyone else wants in let me know.

The Dawg

I'm seeing the end coming soon......:)

Why don't I wrap this up with the final part numbers so you guys can go and buy your parts.

As mentioned earlier, I'm providing the bracket and bolt for $35.  Please have this for me at the next meeting.

The idler wheel (pulley) is a generic GM part:

GM# 88909587

AC Delco# 38006

The belt I bought:

AC Delco# 5K459  (17mm X 1179mm)


Cheers,

The Dawg