Hi!
I'm just restoring a 1974 454 w/A/C and its time for the brackets and pulleys and belts to go back in (especially the power steering brackets) Being new to the corvette scene i'm not sure how they should be placed. If anyone has a diagram or picture you don't know how much i'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

You can purchase a book called the "Assembly Instruction Manual" (AIM for short) from Mid America Corvette or other suppliers. The AIM is the entire instruction manual that was used by GM assembly line workers and gives a detailed pictorial description of where all the parts bolt onto your big block. The AIM is specific for each year of Corvette and runs around $25 as I recall. Here is a link to the AIM manual at MAD:
http://www.madvet.com/shop?part=4.68.187.600001

 

Okay i'm having trouble lining up the idler pulley. I know one end goes to the water pump with a spacer but i'm not sure about the other end. Am i missing a bracket? or does it connect to the power steering directly somehow? *shrug*

 

Tina,

I also have a 1974 LS-4 with A/C and power steering. Unfortunately, before I got the car, Bubba threw away the idler pulley. A number of people are running without the idler (by using a shorter belt and forcing in on), but Chevy put it on there to offset the tremendous pull on the water pump from the A/C compressor, so I believe that it's important to have on a stock style setup.

I have an Assembly Instruction Manual, and I have the page for the idler pulley in front of me. If I can get pictures to work I'll try to scan the page and post it here. Until then, it appears that you are correct about the upper mounting. There is a spacer between the idler bracket and the lower water pump bolt mounting. The manual doesn't show a view with power steering, but after having studied my setup a lot, it appears that there is a similiar but different spacer (the manual lists it with a different part number, I suspect it has a different length) and I believe it mounts to the power steering bracket in some fashion, replacing one of the power steering bracket mounting bolts. If you didn't have power steering, there appears to be an additional small spacer to take the space of the power steering bracket.

By the way, if anyone has an idler pulley and mounting parts, I'd sure be interested in them.

Steve

 

Tina, welcome from Down Under. I agree with the others, get an A.I.M., you will be lost without it. I am looking at mine now at page 265 which has all the options. but NOT the part number! Most parts drawn in the AIM, even screws and washers, have the GM part number written down but i can't see one for the idler pulley. However, a savvy spare parts dealer at a big GM dealer should be able to help you. If all else fails, that's what the Forum is for.

Best of luck and,

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

 

OK Tina, I'm going to give this a try. If it doesn't work, you are welcome to e-mail me and I'll e-mail this image back to you. This is page 260 of the AIM, showing the idler pulley installation.




Steve

Cool! It worked!

edit: Tina, my picture host has crashed and may have hosed all of my pictures stored there. I still have the AIM picture on my system. If you want, I'll be happy to e-mail it to you if it doesn't come back.

 

SWEET!! Thanks for the picture!! I'd like to say i figured it out on my own but it was actually my dad. But i guess now i can be sure.
I'm glad i found this forum.
As a side question since you folks have 74s are they a good investment. what are they worth, to put it bluntly? I heard that C3's went up in price. (keeping in mind i am actually canadian and if you say $100US thats like $10000 for me

Cheers,
PS. I love Australia i've been there twice. I had trouble shifting the car with my left hand

 

Tina, glad you got it fixed. Sorry I was a bit slow getting the picture out there. It's a shame when work gets in the way.

'74s are generally not as desirable or worth as much as the chrome bumper units, part of the reason that I bought my '74. Price is in the eye of the beholder, and varys all over the place from a few thousand dollars (US) to as much as $15,000 for a pristine big-block version with all of the options. Mine is undergoing modifications, and will never be worth what I'll have sunk into it. But it will be a lot of fun.

Steve