Serpentine Conversion

[hiltijoe]

You are a kinder soul then I. Screw me once shame on me screw me twice it's on....

Ya me too

 

[hiltijoe]

Here's where I am at with mine at the moment

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Ford blue haha

 

[hiltijoe]

Ok Gents, so here's what I have so far. I'm about half way done with my conversion and ran into a couple small unexpected hiccups that were easily taken care of.

I made a trip out to a local junk yard where I picked up a water pump pulley, a used alternator from a 1997 suburban, not 100% sure which alternator it is, all I know is for now it will do, I also picked up a crank pulley and an idler pulley and tensioner that both were in waaay better shape than the ones that came on the mounting brackets I got for my conversion.

So, hiccup number one happened when bolted up my '95 water pump. I got it all bolted up and went to bolt on the pulley. I pulled the studs out of my old water pump and went to transfer them into the new water pump. Low and behold they would not thread in! Went to the bin of J-A-Pan and co. bolts (metric) and found some 8mm (actually measured 7.8 mm with the caliper) bolts and cut them to length. I then got the pulley all bolted up. In the pictures you will notice the red bolt heads holding the water pump pulley in place. I am doing a ford windstar e-fan conversion at the same time as I do this serpentine conversion so a clutch and fan are not needed right now. Also, I should add that I'm not sure what year the pulley came off of. I pulled it off a motor that was laying on the ground. It was a v8 SBC with the same serp setup as what came in the 88-95.

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Hiccup number 2. So next I went on ahead and began the process of bolting up the alternator bracket. While trying to do this I realized I was going to have to relocate my wiring harness that comes up the front of the block. What I did to remedy this was I pulled the fuel pump off and ran this harness up behind the fuel pump and over the valve cover for now. Once I am done I will get this buttoned up and routed a little better. In the picture below you can see that I have actually wrapped the harness with header wrap to protect it from the heat off the headers.

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Now onto actually getting the bracket bolted up. Once it was in place, I went to drop the alternator in. My serpentine bracket setup is out of a 99 k1500. The alternator came out of a 97 suburban. The alternator has what appears to be the same plug as the CS144. If anyone can tell me exactly which alternator that is just by looking at it I'd be forever grateful. Now enter Hiccup number 3. The bolt holes on the alternator were not quite wide enough apart for it to be a direct drop in. I was able to drill the mounting holes in the ears of the alternator out some and make it work. I also had to fashion a spacer to put between the passenger side ear of the alternator and the alternator bracket. this spacer ended up being 1.399" and fit perfectly.

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Ok, so thats about as far as I am so far. Not going to be able to work on it for a few days because I am a boat owner and I volunteer every year for an event called Warriors on the Water. We take members of the armed forces, both active duty and veterans, out for a day on the water to chase the elusive walter the walleye.

And before everyone jumps on me about the glass fuel filter, don't worry, it's coming off! I'm also probably going to replace my radiator hoses, and I'm definitely going to replace the hoses going to the heater core.

So far all of the pulleys that are installed are lining up perfectly. When I done with the project I will post up more pictures and the rest of my experience. Thanks for looking

I have a whole front bracket set up from a 93burb you are welcome to any of it

 

[bluex]

Ford blue haha

Its GM Corporate Blue, thanks [emoji41]

Which is the correct color for a small block in 78 too

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[Honky Kong jr]

Its GM Corporate Blue, thanks [emoji41]

Which is the correct color for a small block in 78 too

Sent from my LG-H871 using Tapatalk

2nd year for it too.

 

[Handy Andy]

I have a whole front bracket set up from a 93burb you are welcome to any of it

Thanks man, but I am pretty much done with the serp part of my truck modification! All that's left now is to finish my e-fan conversion, run hoses for my a/c, and the electrical big 3 upgrade.

 

[bluex]

Well I think my power steering is finally happy. I took the pump apart again and cleaned everything and made sure there were no burrs that the flow valve could get stuck on. Gave the system a good flush and bled it out again and so far its working. I hope it stays that way for a long time now as I'm really tired of messing with it...

 

[Mr Clean]

Ok time for a refresher on this subject... cause I have questions...

Doing my serpentine conversion on the Mistress I have ran into a couple of little snags... the AC needs spacers to clear the valve cover. I think i need to clearance the bracket on the valve cover also. I have a couple of brackets I don't remember where they go....or if I even need them.

Did get some parts at the salvage yard today, just for mock up. Got a new power steering pump. Tensioner and idler. I have some sand blasting and powder coating to do. I'm having the hardest time finding the water pump pulley. 100 bucks from Rock Auto, epay... who ever sounds a bit steep to me. Neither of my local salvage yards have them. I had the one from one of my BB. Might go all aluminum pulleys.

 

[bluex]

Long bracket is a lift point, its not necessarily needed. I don't think it's used as extra support for anything.

The other looks like one that braces the power steering to the block. I don't think i used it either.

I also had to clearance the bracket for my valve cover. I used a sanden compressor that comes with spacers because the size is different an that helped it clear them too.

 

[Mr Clean]

Long bracket is a lift point, its not necessarily needed. I don't think it's used as extra support for anything.

The other looks like one that braces the power steering to the block. I don't think i used it either.

I also had to clearance the bracket for my valve cover. I used a sanden compressor that comes with spacers because the size is different an that helped it clear them too.

Thanks... I saw where you needed to clearance the bracket also. I got the parts at the Salvage yard just for mock up. Did I get the wrong AC compressor? I have no idea if the alternator is the correct one. I paid 60 bucks for all of it. The water pump pulley has been quite trying to find. I happen to have a pulley from one of my BB. I'll still need to find one to replace it.

 

[bluex]

Thanks... I saw where you needed to clearance the bracket also. I got the parts at the Salvage yard just for mock up. Did I get the wrong AC compressor? I have no idea if the alternator is the correct one. I paid 60 bucks for all of it. The water pump pulley has been quite trying to find. I happen to have a pulley from one of my BB. I'll still need to find one to replace it.

No, the HT6 is the correct one. They are notorious for leaking where the case halves meet. I went with a sanden to avoid that an I wanted a new one since my entire a/c was new too.

That alternator is the cs130d that was standard 105A on the vortecs as well. The cs144 was the "high output" option. The AD244 I used is one that will bolt in from early LS stuff that has some upgrades just from a new design an gives more amp output at idle.

 

[Mr Clean]

No, the HT6 is the correct one. They are notorious for leaking where the case halves meet. I went with a sanden to avoid that an I wanted a new one since my entire a/c was new too.

That alternator is the cs130d that was standard 105A on the vortecs as well. The cs144 was the "high output" option. The AD244 I used is one that will bolt in from early LS stuff that has some upgrades just from a new design an gives more amp output at idle.

Do you have a pic, or a part number for the Sanden? My AC will be all new also.

 

[Mr Clean]

DUH! I have a Sanden pump... it is a V belt. Do you know if they make a bracket to convert the Sanden to the top mount bracket I have?

 

[CalSgt]

Here’s the brackets, supports the PS pump.

I can’t remember the long bracket supports the PS pump or not

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[CalSgt]

Also, which valve covers? Need pictures!

And… if you get an L31 water neck you can route the upper radiator hose behind the A/C compressor and probably get a stock hose to fit.