[andiamo]

I've read tons of articles on this site and others and the information seems very extensive but I want to get all of your opinions on this since you're all doing it with an el camino like I have. I currently have a mongrel 350 out of a 72 chevy truck in my 86 elky. My dad had a backyard mechanic who did many stupid things to butcher the car do the swap. I've recently noticed my 2 yr old a/c compresser is starting to make noise. Was done as a surprise for me by my dad for christmas a few years ago. Now that I look very closely it looks like all of the accessories are slightly skewed probably wrong washers a mix of brackets sheer stupidity on the guy who installed the motor's part. If it was attacked to the car ie. the a/c compressor he kept that part attached to the motor he kept the parts off of the 72. Sorry for the long lead up but this explains what is on the car now. I'm about to put my new freshly built 350 roller motor in the car. Since I'm going to start fresh I want to find a serpentine setup that I would be able to swap out everything. Relocate a/c compressor to the other side, reverse water pump and all. I'd like to try and not spend a fortune doing this so would rather find a donor car. But also if any of you suggest a reasonable kit that would get it done I'd be open to that. I plan on doing all new accessories if I do this option. Also I am converting to an electric cooling fan. I want everything to be new so there are no headaches.

Thanks in advance
Jerry

 

[1980SteelBeast]

My serpentine setup is from an mid 90's model truck. They are aluminum

 

[ccc]

any 87 to 92 camaro/ firebird or late 80 s big chevy ,94 to99 chevy pu/saburban with a v8 will go right on,just get all of the support brackets and bolts and all of the accesories. stay away from the steel mounting brackets used on the early 90 s trucks ,they crack.the ones you want are aluminum

 

[gjwilson84]

When you get the parts you need to make sure you get everything. There should be two brackets, one for each side of the front of the engine. One holds the power steering pump and alternator and the other holds the AC compressor. Some of the vehicles came with smog pumps that mount on the AC bracket. I found one without the smog stuff and it looks cleaner but it you need emissions to be legal you want that bracket. You also need the water pump and clutch fan as they spin the opposite direction on a serpentine set up. Basically you want everything you can get from the front of the engine on the donor vehicle.

 

[gjwilson84]

Here is a list of the parts:

Alternator & Power Steering Pump Bracket

Air Conditioning /Pollution Pump Bracket

Water Pump Pulley, Crankshaft Pulley, Power Steering Pulley

Drive Belt Tensioner Assembly

Alternator, should come with it's own pulley

Water pump from donor. They are about $30 new at Autozone.

Clutch fan if you don't use electric. Also from donor.

Here is an article that will explain most everything. Good luck and I hope I helped. Sorry for the huge pics.

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0911_serpentine_belt_drive/viewall.html

 

[Bryan59EC]

And do not mix parts from one type to another.
Spacing will be different.
95 ish Chevy pickups with the AC on the right is a plentiful setup.
you will need a power steering pump pulley puller to get the driver side bracket off.
(PS pump needs to come off before the bracket will come off)

Chev GMC S-10/S-15 v6 use the same brackets.

Get all of the mounting studs out of the heads and block, it will make your life a bit easier.
Get the power steering pump---yours will not work,
Might have to change the pressure fitting on the back of the pump with yours so the hoses will connect.

Look for a later model alternator- I use CS130D in both of my cars, but a regular CS130 will work just fine.

Minor wiring change is all you need to do----at the alternator.
You may need to get a different AC compressor-----if you have an R-4 pump it will bolt right on.
You will most likely have to change some hose routing tho.

 

[andiamo]

Awesome information and pics. Did you guys swap out the donor car condenser in front of the radiator so that you had the lines on the other side? or just flip yours over? Do you remember what it was that didn't have the smog pump? My car hasn't had emissions stuff on it for years and I'm in florida where we don't have emissions thankfully. I can see I'm probably going to have to go to one of the larger junkyards and just go digging. Maybe post on craigslist for someone parting out a car that would fit the bill.

Thanks for all the info again guys anything else you all think of feel free to share and I'll keep an eyes on this thread

 

[choo-choo]

unless you are gonna tpi(at a later date) it should not matter what you take the system off of but stay with the aluminum bracket like everyone else said

 

[gjwilson84]

Yeah, get everything from the same vehicle and you're better off to know for sure what year in case you need additional parts because they are available from the dealer and parts stores. Good luck.

 

[ccc]

use the ac condenser from the buick regal with the buick v6

 

[80sselky]

If you are converting to an electric cooling fan you might want to look at the setup of the buick grand nationals. Also if that install guy didn't go a great job installing things as you have mentioned you might want to look at installing a transmission cooler(or double checking the one that is in the car currently if he installed it). I installed my separate transmission cooler in the grand national mounting style and like it (although you have to do some metal fabrication to do it up nice as I did to get it to mount that way). I decided to stick with a mechanical fan and put in a new Gm fan clutch and a tight fitting Gm 7 fin blade (in the factory fan shroud) to keep efficient cooling. Sorry I can't take more pics for you of my setup with the trans cooler as I'm not doing well in health and that's why I'm having to sell my car.

 

[chevyefi]

Roadmasters and Caprices with small blocks or 4.3 up to 1993 had a setup that's very similar to the 88-92 Camaros / Firebirds. The trucks with 4.3 or V8, late 80s up were good setups but they place the accessories slightly higher.

 

[andiamo]

Still been searching for my donor vehicle for my serpentine setup. The best one I've found so far I wanted to check with you guys as its a little newer. 2002 chevy s10 blazer with a v6. Looks as if its compatible I just wanted to run it by you guys.

 

[ccc]

as far as i know it should be the same. i dont think they changed the front of the 4.3 as far as the acc. mounting.they did change the timing cover when they added the balance shaft,but not shure if that changed anything in the acc. asembly.they do use a better ac compressor though which i like on the newer ones over the r4 pos

 

[andiamo]

My system was already converted to the newer freon when I did a new compressor 3 years ago. So the newer compressor would be better. Thank you I'll have to keep looking closer at it thats what I was looking for.
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[tmar45]

In a serpintine belt conversion, how do you convert the alternator wiring from old style to the newer style? :dontknow:

 

[ccc]

which old to which new they have made a couple changes to the alt and wireing for each style ?

 

[jpmdaddy]

Here is a new GMPP set up complete with all new accessories - WP, Alt, PS pump, a/c compressor - bolt on system

http://www.jegs.com/i/GM+Performance/809/12497698/10002/-1

A little pricey, but all NEW components - just another option for your new motor.

but just noticed - availability unknown from manufacturer - maybe not an option any more.....

 

[Bryan59EC]

In a serpintine belt conversion, how do you convert the alternator wiring from old style to the newer style? :dontknow:

Easy enough

Only NEED to hook up one wire---bust most people use 2

The brown (or tan) wire coming from the newer alternator hooks up
to the existing "excite wire" coming from the car's fusebox.

Not sure what color your car's wires may be----but you should have a red wire and one other wire in the plug that goes into the alternator----Don't use the red wire.

I' will look around for a diagram and post it---or e-mail to you.

 

[andiamo]

I just noticed since the setup I'm looking at right now is on an ebay auction that the a/c compressor is the longer type a/c compressor. Any thoughts on if that would interfere with my tall valve covers? Thinking I need to go junkyard diving to look at one with the long a/c compressor