March Pulleys
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From: Houston, TX
as stated before, there's a few things you will need before installing. First off, kit number is 20450. This is the kit I used, purchased from Summit. Once received, inspected all the parts. Beautiful! Everything was there, small parts were in seperate bags to identify were they go. Now the hiccups. yes this kit is for the sbc, short water pump, before you go yea!! here's hiccup 1, not the corvette short water pump. as some of you know pully dowel is 3/4" on later model c3's. kit set up for standard short water pump, 5/8" dowel. Now after some research, I found that around 1973, gm changed from 5/8 to 3/4" on there short water pumps on vettes. So,, I used an 1971 sbc corvette water pump, just the plain standard pump, no high volumes, or fancy coatings. works perfectly.
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Now hiccup 2, power steering, at some point, 1974 I think, gm went from keyway to press on pulleys on there p/s pumps. crap. mine was press on. more research, found that most of the saganaw p/s pumps use the same guts, pump itself, just changed the reservoir shape. Now I could have ordered the march kit with press on pulley, but desided to go keyway route, due to, pressing those pulleys is tight and an pain, with the aluminum pulley being softer than steel, duh, and the fact that press on uses clamps to install pulley, I didn't want any tool marks. And if you get the pulley on crooked, then your screwed...and pissed off. So I chose to get the key way one. Now there's 2 ways to get p/s pumps, with or without reservoir. I chose without, Mine was powdercoated black, so I just popped out the old pump, in with the new. Its tight when going back together, but with paticience, very do-able.
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Hiccup 3, still with the p/s pump, my vette is an '80 model. with the 80-82's the p/s hose connection at the pump is metric. go figure. So while I had the p/s pump apart, I just swapped over the pressure fitting from old pump to new.
Also, if you change to keyway style, your gonna need an nut to hold pulley on. summit sells an chrome one. 7 bucks I think. just type in 9/16" nut in search. bam it'll show up, its from march....now as you put this all together, be sure to wait on the p/s pulley till you put on the p/s bracket and install onto engine....trust me....
Also, if you change to keyway style, your gonna need an nut to hold pulley on. summit sells an chrome one. 7 bucks I think. just type in 9/16" nut in search. bam it'll show up, its from march....now as you put this all together, be sure to wait on the p/s pulley till you put on the p/s bracket and install onto engine....trust me....
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As I went through this process, things are broken down into little sub-assembly's. p/s, alt, water pump. pretty much follow instructions, you'll be fine.
hiccup 3, alt. on my '80 uses an si-17 type alt. yup metric again. think only vettes got those in the early 80's. the march kit is set up for the older si-10 type alt. oh here we go again.
as you can see in the pictures, there is an arm that mounts to the top of the alt. the bolt and the hole in the arm are too samll for my alt. so i went to hardware store, found an chrome bolt that fits my alt, top. thats when i found the hole in arm to small. crap again...took arm to drill press, clamped it down, resized the hole. oh yea, all is good again. assembled. good to go.
hiccup 3, alt. on my '80 uses an si-17 type alt. yup metric again. think only vettes got those in the early 80's. the march kit is set up for the older si-10 type alt. oh here we go again.
as you can see in the pictures, there is an arm that mounts to the top of the alt. the bolt and the hole in the arm are too samll for my alt. so i went to hardware store, found an chrome bolt that fits my alt, top. thats when i found the hole in arm to small. crap again...took arm to drill press, clamped it down, resized the hole. oh yea, all is good again. assembled. good to go.
Last edited by mejetdrvr; May 23, 2012 at 07:16 AM.
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hiccup 4, now this is a biggie!!!! look at the photos, you will notice the adjustment arm from alt to intake mantifold. the kit tells you to mount the adjustment rod to alt bracket, where it mount the cyclinder head. this wont work. this puts the alt too low, and the belt will rub against the A-frame. not good...so I relocated the adjustment rod. used the same bolt. wow a break for an change....but your gonna need an spacer, about 1" length. So its off to hardware store again. found an chrome one that size. 3/8" hole by
1". pretty sure of the hole size. make sure though..
Now the belt, its 6 ribs, about 55.5" in length. I had to grab a few at once to get the right size. then return what was left..pain I know, but you guys know, when you modify, it takes trips to part/hardware stores...
Hope this helps, for you guys thinking of this kit. IT does fit, just some minor changes and tinkering....when it was all done, everything line up pefrectly. not any shimming needed for me.....
1". pretty sure of the hole size. make sure though..
Now the belt, its 6 ribs, about 55.5" in length. I had to grab a few at once to get the right size. then return what was left..pain I know, but you guys know, when you modify, it takes trips to part/hardware stores...
Hope this helps, for you guys thinking of this kit. IT does fit, just some minor changes and tinkering....when it was all done, everything line up pefrectly. not any shimming needed for me.....
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Kingston Ontario
Just a little note for guys putting this system on their BBC with tall valve covers and a 140 amp alternator. You will need to make a custom bracket for the top of the alternator. I made one and it needs modification because the alternator hits the bottom side of the hood. Any other suggestions that I might try?
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Joined: Aug 2008
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From: Houston, TX
my self, I just used an straight edge along the pulleys. and then watched the belt.
BB72, where is the hood hitting your alt? if at your new alt bracket, maybe grind more off the top? have you tried an smaller alt?
BB72, where is the hood hitting your alt? if at your new alt bracket, maybe grind more off the top? have you tried an smaller alt?
Melting Slicks
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From: Palm Beach Florida
St. Jude Donor '12
mejetdrvr, Very nice. But ya need to move the Alt. adjustment bar over to the other side of that bracket. This way it will be straight. You may need to shim it as well. I had to to this on mine and my buddys.
Melting Slicks
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From: Kingston Ontario
Everything lined right up. I will have to grind or make a smaller alternator bracket. I chose the 140 amp alternator because I'm running electric head light actuators and electric fans. I did have to do what the previous poster did and buy a few different length belts and return the ones that didn't fit.
Melting Slicks
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From: Palm Beach Florida
St. Jude Donor '12
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daanbc, i agree, but that's part of the fun, tinkering. of corse, if we bought corvette only parts, then they would fit. but, not all of the pretty stuff is corvette only.
update: went for test drive, ran it hard, then normal, did notice slight increase in engine temp. But it was 95+ outside, so that could cause some of it. But I think it is due to the water pump pulley being slightly smaller. The temp stayed around 200. Before it was about 190, so i'm not really worried about it, just thought I'd make an note about it...
daanbc, did your buddy have the same problem, temp wise?
bb72, when i rebuilt my alt, with the chrome case, I had the rebuild shop change some internal parts, stator I think, it gives me 100 amps at idle. I run dual cooling fans, with both them running, still pulling 13.5 volts at idle. I'm sure my alt is smaller than your 140 one. just some food for thought....
but, not all of the pretty stuff is corvette only. update: went for test drive, ran it hard, then normal, did notice slight increase in engine temp. But it was 95+ outside, so that could cause some of it. But I think it is due to the water pump pulley being slightly smaller. The temp stayed around 200. Before it was about 190, so i'm not really worried about it, just thought I'd make an note about it...
daanbc, did your buddy have the same problem, temp wise?
bb72, when i rebuilt my alt, with the chrome case, I had the rebuild shop change some internal parts, stator I think, it gives me 100 amps at idle. I run dual cooling fans, with both them running, still pulling 13.5 volts at idle. I'm sure my alt is smaller than your 140 one. just some food for thought....
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2010
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From: Palm Beach Florida
St. Jude Donor '12
daanbc, did your buddy have the same problem, temp wise?
Yeah for him and me it was just noticeable. Not to much. But we live here in South Florida, so we took our thermostats out. Then realized they ran hotter. To much flow. So we bought some re stricter plates. I run the second size smaller, and my car now runs at 190. I do not use anti freeze either. Distiled water and a bottle of water wetter to lube the pump. My car will never see freezing and I never use the heat(thats been disconnected and taken out).
Yeah for him and me it was just noticeable. Not to much. But we live here in South Florida, so we took our thermostats out. Then realized they ran hotter. To much flow. So we bought some re stricter plates. I run the second size smaller, and my car now runs at 190. I do not use anti freeze either. Distiled water and a bottle of water wetter to lube the pump. My car will never see freezing and I never use the heat(thats been disconnected and taken out).
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,429
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From: Kingston Ontario
bb72, when i rebuilt my alt, with the chrome case, I had the rebuild shop change some internal parts, stator I think, it gives me 100 amps at idle. I run dual cooling fans, with both them running, still pulling 13.5 volts at idle. I'm sure my alt is smaller than your 140 one. just some food for thought....[/QUOTE]
I have though of alternatives
I have though of alternatives
