Today after working on my '68 Camaro for a few hours I decided to take a ride out into the country to the Concourse De Elagance in Forest Grove, Oregon. I took the long way so I could drive through the Oregon wine country and enjoy the curves and scenry. Well, a couple weeks ago while dynoing the car at Tom Wongs we noticed my serpentene belt was not looking so good. I wrote myself a mental note to repalce it. My memory being what it is I apprently erased the note and this afternoon I was given a very rude reminder. I had just made a uey and all of a sudden I had no power steering. That was enough to trigger my memory, I pulled over and poped the hood, and sure enough I was starring at a broken belt. I drove to a nearby grocer and asked where the nearest auto parts store was. I was lucky and the NAPA store was only a mile away. I picked up a belt and the longest 5/8" wrench they had and proceeded to replace the belt. The wrench was too short to get the leverage to move the tensioner enough to get the belt over the alternator pulley. I pulled and tugged and wrestled for about an hour and half. Taking a break for a cuban cigar I finally surrendered and called AAA. They told me they could tow it to the nearest shop but I'd have to leave it out there all night. I decided to pay the extra fee to have it towed home. It took me all of two minutes to fix it once I had the correct tools. Oh well I've been educated in the fine art of serpentene belt replacement.

 

Why not just get a ride home from someone? But, I'm sure theres a reason. Good luck

 

Good question. I considered that but my wife would have had to make the 50 mile drive each way in her Ford Exploder. She already had other plans so factoring in the hassle factor, driving time, and leaving my car out there for several hours I decided the tow made more sense. I had visions of returning to a ripped up vert top and no wheels.

 

Tip for the future. Use the next bigger size combination wrench, hook the box end onto the open end of the firstone, this will give you twice as much leverage.

On the TPI cars, there's just a 1/2" square hole that a breaker bar or ratchet will do the trick on.

 

Believe me I tried that but the position of the nut made it so I needed another inch of movement. Tried a socket on a breaker bar but there wasn't enough room between the frame and the nut. When I got home I stuck my 12" hydraulic jack handle on the open end of the wrench and the angle worked out perfectly.

 

Mental note to self - Upgrade AAA to 100mile free towing.
Learned this one quite a few years ago.

 

One nice thing to remember about the LT1/LT4 is it doesn't hurt it to run it without the serpentine belt.
You only need the belt for the power steering, AC, and alternator -- the water pump is directly driven from the camshaft.
The igntion will quit when the battery gets too low, but you can drive until then without hurting anything -- just don't sit and idle or go extremely slow because the fans may not be movng enough air.

My guess is, without lights, you coud probably drive a couple of hundred miles using muscle to turn the wheel and sweating without AC.

When the power steering went out on my Lincoln Town Car on a trip, I drove it 200 miles without it.
That is tough steering at low speed -- but at 70 mph on the interstate you don't even know there isn't any power steering because you don't need power steering at that speed.

Tom Piper

 

glad to hear that it finally all worked out.

Just been talking to a friend about how it would have been a different situation here in Australia..........don't have parts stores that carry corvette parts!

Had to get a tow today myself (alternator is stuffed I think).

Still, theres nothing like driving these cars - soooooooo much fun!

 

worth the extra few bucks

 

You just reminded me to get a spare belt...my 93 has the double sided ribbing and they are not readily available...

 

Most of us dragracers have. Thank God for AAA plus.

 

I just converted my '92 to a single-sided belt for that reason.

I now have a used double-sided belt with about 1K miles on it you can have if you can pick it up.

Tom Piper

 

don't forget the extra expense of the cuban cigar............if you are claiming travel expenses

 

Due to a recent bout with an altenator I now carry a 1/2" drive 12" long flex handle in the cars' tool kit. Fits in the tensioner cutout. It was $9 at Autozone!

 

Amen to that. I also been there, done that.

 

I second that emotion. My LT1 got flat-bedded two years ago by AAA towing when my coil and ignition module went ****-up on me.

 

that sucks, well at least you learned something... carry a breaker bar on you

 

Defintiely upgrading my AAA membership. I asked the gal if I could do right then but she said it wouldn't count towards that call.

 

Easy solution: install the RD-Racing Camber Brace. After that you don't have to think if you try to install a new belt on the road or not. You know righ away that you need to call a tow truck - no wasted time!

 

Mental note to self: replace the belt..at home...when it needs it!!

(...it's cheaper and better in the long run than tow insurance, carrying tools, spare belts, etc.)

Larry
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