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Mike: Taking a second look at your setup, did you try an 84" belt? It appears that a 84" belt will take up more slack so the tensioner isn't nearly as vertical. That may not matter in terms of functionality, just curious.
Honestly I can not remember. I have swapped belt size about 3 times now haha I would say that yes an 84'' belt would put more tension on the belt and make the tensioner less vertical however I don't think it will make much of a difference. I think I wanted to try an 84'' belt but I feel like they don't make/didn't have an 84'' belt but it was some time ago.
Honestly I can not remember. I have swapped belt size about 3 times now haha I would say that yes an 84'' belt would put more tension on the belt and make the tensioner less vertical however I don't think it will make much of a difference. I think I wanted to try an 84'' belt but I feel like they don't make/didn't have an 84'' belt but it was some time ago.
I'm going to get both 85 and 84 inch belts. I've had good luck with belts through Vbeltsupply.com, 850K6 and 840K6 respectively. Their belts are 'imports' but I never had an issue with any that I've used on my yard tractors, drive, PTO, mower deck, etc...
Whichever length I use will make the other a spare.
Ahh yeah I don't think autozone had the ability to get an 84'' belts but I'm sure they will both work fine. Yeah I like the look of the pro flo as well. Here is an older photo of the swap I'm finishing up now.
Ahh yeah I don't think autozone had the ability to get an 84'' belts but I'm sure they will both work fine. Yeah I like the look of the pro flo as well. Here is an older photo of the swap I'm finishing up now.
I am actually using the EBL flash from dynamicefi. It is pretty much a plug and play for 86+ vettes. The 84 you have to change the ecm connectors to 86 style or get a ham board but they dont make them anymore as far as im aware. It mounts in the same location as oem and has full tuning ability.
I'm going to get both 85 and 84 inch belts. I've had good luck with belts through Vbeltsupply.com, 850K6 and 840K6 respectively. Their belts are 'imports' but I never had an issue with any that I've used on my yard tractors, drive, PTO, mower deck, etc...
Good news, bad news...both the 84" belt AND the 85" belts refused to fit. I pulled, tugged, stretched, twisted without success. I then acquired an 85.5" belt (Autozone #855K6) and she fit perfectly.
With the original belt in place, I loosened the three bolts holding the air pump wheel. I then released the tensioner, removed the belt and the pump wheel. I routed the 85.5" belt, pushed the tensioner back and easily slipped the belt over the alternator pulley wheel. The belt ran smoothly without any obstruction. Total time 10 minutes, total bucks $31.34, that is, if you ignore the two belts that did not fit. I will be driving the car later today and will report back if there are any issues.
The grinding sound of the pump bearing is no more!
Good news, bad news...both the 84" belt AND the 85" belts refused to fit. I pulled, tugged, stretched, twisted without success. I then acquired an 85.5" belt (Autozone #855K6) and she fit perfectly.
With the original belt in place, I loosened the three bolts holding the air pump wheel. I then released the tensioner, removed the belt and the pump wheel. I routed the 85.5" belt, pushed the tensioner back and easily slipped the belt over the alternator pulley wheel. The belt ran smoothly without any obstruction. Total time 10 minutes, total bucks $31.34, that is, if you ignore the two belts that did not fit. I will be driving the car later today and will report back if there are any issues.
The grinding sound of the pump bearing is no more!
I used dayco 5060850 85" belt and have been running this way for 4 months after getting a noisy smog pump replacement on an 84 with now issues. You should be fine. The only thing I've heard is that because there's a bit extra tension, over time the belt will stretch a little more prematurely so just keep an eye on it for the long haul.
Well once again I have found what I was looking for in the pages of this forum. (Can’t believe people are still adding to this thread nine years later).
So hears by two bobs worth.
I recently had a set of headers fitted to my 84 Corvette and just removed the air manifolds with a plan to remove the air pump and the rest of the plumbing when I got a chance.
So today I had the time and thanks to this thread it was easy. I got an 85” serpentine belt. I found that the part number was the same for Dayco and Gates belts. The part number is 6PK2160. I’m in Australia so I don’t know if it’s the same in the US but the part number is the metric length of the belt because 216 centimeters equals 85 inches.
Anyway it was very straight forward. I took the pulley off first just to confirm that everything would fit, when it did I went ahead and removed the pump and it’s associated stuff.
Greg...I hope my posting helped with your project. I seldom use my '84 but she's ready to go at any time. My primary ride is a '98.
BTW: I was in Brisbane many years ago while sailing on a US flagged freighter as Radio Electronics Officer. I made two voyages to the South Pacific in the late 70's.
Greg...I hope my posting helped with your project. I seldom use my '84 but she's ready to go at any time. My primary ride is a '98.
BTW: I was in Brisbane many years ago while sailing on a US flagged freighter as Radio Electronics Officer. I made two voyages to the South Pacific in the late 70's.
In Brisbane in the late 70s wow it was a country town then. My family moved from Sydney to Brisbane in 1977 (I was nine) I couldn’t believe how different to Sydney it was. I don’t think you’d recognize the place these days, it’s now a large vibrant city.
Our 84 is a bit of a project for my 19 year old son and I. He uses it as a daily driver. It seams a shame that your 84 doesn’t get driven regularly any more. My daily driver is a 2008 6.0 liter GM SS Commodore I think they were sold in the US as Pontiac G8s. But I drive the Corvette whenever I can get it off my son.
Last edited by GregMartin; Nov 12, 2018 at 07:53 AM.
One year later update...my daughter's husband smashed his pickup and had to use her car. She borrowed my '98 for about three weeks which forced me to use the '84. No issues with the new belt, in fact, I totally forgot about that belt, but that $%$!!@^^!! '84 is a real pain to drive. Suspension is so stiff, it rattles my freakin' brain. I'm trying to convince my daughter to let me sell her mom's '84. If you read my older posts, it was her mom's car before she passed from cancer. I was give orders not to sell her '84 so it's been mostly idle since 2001.
One year later update...my daughter's husband smashed his pickup and had to use her car. She borrowed my '98 for about three weeks which forced me to use the '84. No issues with the new belt, in fact, I totally forgot about that belt, but that $%$!!@^^!! '84 is a real pain to drive. Suspension is so stiff, it rattles my freakin' brain. I'm trying to convince my daughter to let me sell her mom's '84. If you read my older posts, it was her mom's car before she passed from cancer. I was give orders not to sell her '84 so it's been mostly idle since 2001.
Wow man that’s a hard one. Maybe just bestow the 84 on your daughter that way you have honored your promise not to sell it and you have passed it on within the family.
Those 84s are sprung really hard, Mines is a Z51 (a lot were) and it will rattle the fillings out of your teeth. It’s lovely on the highway and the suspension gives you heaps of confidence but it would be better on the track instead of the road. You could replace the springs and shocks with a latter model. I believe that even the 85s and 86s where sprung softer. You could sell the old springs to someone with a track car because they are perfect in that application.
Anyway good luck with your dilemma and I’m sorry for your loss even though I gather it was some years ago.
Tried that, didn't work! She wants her car in the garage and not the '84...
Well it did seam like the obvious solution .
i guess you’ll have to swap the springs or build her a car port.
i can’t remember has your 84 got any engine mods? Buccaneer is looking to recover the tooling for the Renegade and build some blue printed ones. The rattles and bumps are a lot less of a problem when the engine is a bit more lively.
I'm baaaaack...It's 2 1/2 years later and I decided to get the '84 going. It's been mostly idle for the past year maybe longer. It used to start without any issues but this time, I found a short that drained the battery. I determined the starter solenoid was shorted. I dug up a GM starter from my shop, bench tested it OK and stuffed it in the '84. R&Ring the '84's starter, was a big job. But this starter has its own issues, the solenoid engages, but the gears don't always engage the flex plate. After many tries, it will engage, and the engine does start but it's not 100% reliable. I'll replace that starter with a rebuilt or maybe a PowerMaster #9100 purely because it's easier to install.
I'm trying to love this car but with the stiff suspension, it's tough to do. What's the current favored shocks for this car? Billsteins are way outside my budget so I'm leaning towards KYB's. Thoughts on the KYB's or PowerMaster #9100?
Edit: if you read any of my postings above, my daughter has presented me with two grandsons since I last posted.
I'm baaaaack...It's 2 1/2 years later and I decided to get the '84 going. It's been mostly idle for the past year maybe longer. It used to start without any issues but this time, I found a short that drained the battery. I determined the starter solenoid was shorted. I dug up a GM starter from my shop, bench tested it OK and stuffed it in the '84. R&Ring the '84's starter, was a big job. But this starter has its own issues, the solenoid engages, but the gears don't always engage the flex plate. After many tries, it will engage, and the engine does start but it's not 100% reliable. I'll replace that starter with a rebuilt or maybe a PowerMaster #9100 purely because it's easier to install.
I'm trying to love this car but with the stiff suspension, it's tough to do. What's the current favored shocks for this car? Billsteins are way outside my budget so I'm leaning towards KYB's. Thoughts on the KYB's or PowerMaster #9100?
Edit: if you read any of my postings above, my daughter has presented me with two grandsons since I last posted.
PowerMarter or any of those small high torque starters are good, easy to install (much easier than a Chevy starter) and plenty of grunt to start a small or big block. Can’t comment on the KYB but lots of people use them. You need plenty or damper in the front or it becomes bouncy. What make 84s so stiff is actually the rear spring, if you changed it out for a later model that would soften the car up.
Greg...thanks for the reply. I'm aware of the C4's rear spring and will study that. I've owned the car since 1997 and have never changed the shocks so they are likely 38 years old. What I'd like to have are progressive spring shocks. That's what I have in my front forks and rear shocks in my Kawasaki bike. The smoothness of the ride is amazing as compared to the stock linear spring shocks. I don't see car shocks in the "Progressive" catalog. I think they had them years ago.
re-PowerMaster starter: I'm debating about using a standard GM starter or go with the 'mini high torque' version purely based on the ease of installation. It was a real challenge to R&R the stock GM starter.
Last edited by Vulcan73; Jul 22, 2022 at 08:52 PM.
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