Time for a serpentine belt swap LA 318

[96Formula6sp]

Found this old picture as well

 

[96Formula6sp]

So this car was an ac car but the compressor was locked up and the ac was removed. The power Steering has always had the water pump running with it. Looks like the non AC brackets are way different vs what we have. Our Power Steering bracket had cracked. We sourced another from a friend that was the same. It had come off an RV. This engine is not original to the car. It had come out of something from the 80s. So not sure what brackets are original and what are not.

We could look to source the non AC brackets and pullies and keep the v belts. But that could be half the cost of moving to a ribbed belt setup. However this could explain the belt flinging issues. Both have been a problem. Seen one fail or both fail. The power steering one looks right. But it does like to bend under 25lbs of tension. Its usually happy just snug up.

 

[pnora]

You might post a wanted to buy ad and see what someone has. Check the junk yards. What you need is very common. Also it looks like a lot of oil all over the place. Might be huffing out the dipstick tube. Thats no good.

 

[96Formula6sp]

You might post a wanted to buy ad and see what someone has. Check the junk yards. What you need is very common. Also it looks like a lot of oil all over the place. Might be huffing out the dipstick tube. Thats no good.

That was the junkyard engine from our 2018 race out of a ramcharger that sat in the woods. It had some blow by. Enough you can see the zip tie on the dipstick to keep it in. The engine that weekend used two gallons of oil in 14 hours of racing. The new engine is not as bad. But its slinging belts and needs a catch can plus a nicer road race oil pan for those left hand corners.

 

[icetech]

That was the junkyard engine from our 2018 race out of a ramcharger that sat in the woods. It had some blow by. Enough you can see the zip tie on the dipstick to keep it in. The engine that weekend used two gallons of oil in 14 hours of racing. The new engine is not as bad. But its slinging belts and needs a catch can plus a nicer road race oil pan for those left hand corners.

The bracket is $60.... i think a serpentine system would be much more.. although i haven't priced one.

NEW 1970-74 Mopar Small Block Alternator Bracket Kit | eBay

 

[96Formula6sp]

You might post a wanted to buy ad and see what someone has. Check the junk yards. What you need is very common. Also it looks like a lot of oil all over the place. Might be huffing out the dipstick tube. Thats no good.

The few old mopars that have gone through the yards have been ac cars with the same pully brackets as mine. So hunting a set might be hard. The few old yards died back in the 00s when the owners died.

 

[pnora]

Well I can easily find all the parts new or used for less than 200 bucks.
Water pump. CLEAN ORIGINAL 340-6 WATER PUMP PULLEY 70-CUDA/CHALLENGER TA AAR W/PART NUMBER for sale online | eBay
Crank. Mopar 383 440 2 Groove Crank Pulley 3614378 | eBay
Brackets. Mancini Racing - 1970 & Later Small Block Engine Alternator Bracket

 

[Loren White]

Hey everyone,

We are working on our enduro lemons Coronet. One of our major failures at our last race has been the v-belts on our car. We flung many belts over the weekend. Enough so that even judge Phil said to do a serpentine belt setup. So looking into swaps. Our car is still running a LA 318. Our v belt brackets are in sad shape and even with a replacement set we kept having issues. Alignment and tension were checked and we even used some nice Gates belts but nothing seemed to solve the issue. So its time to trash it all and swap it over. What are my options. I look at the Magnum stuff but its out due to the timing cover being wrong. Or can it be made to work with the older LA stuff. One idea was to just throw some money at the problem with this kit.

Small Block Chrysler Serpentine Conversion, Power Steering

Any good options? Any junkyard options?

Swap over to the March pulley system. I changed my 72 340 ten years ago to this setup and couldn’t be more pleased. Just two belts and also adds the 7 hp you lose from the v-belt setup.