1963SS

Wow, that sounds weird. The new belts have a fuzzy stuff on the ribbed part and maybe that's why it's not squealing. The PO may have changed the harmonic balancer and that would require a different belt size. I know I had to go to a 63" last week because of the ATI Superdamper. You've done the best thing that can be done. Just go to a bigger belt until it fits. Did you take your old belt down to the auto parts store and have them measure it. Or just hold it beside the new one and see if it's the same. You changed the opti and the pump. Neither of them affects belt size.

It does sound as though your pump may be causing a problem. Give the Lucas snake oil another day or so to see what happens. The good news is pumps are cheap. Per pound they might be the cheapest thing on the car. Possibly it's just a coincidence that it died just after an Opti change. I don't really believe in coincidence but stranger things have happened. Good luck.

gunnerjuju

Just tried Lucas this morning. So far so good.

1963SS

Really.....I wonder what it does. Would it be a friction modifier or just some slicky stuff. I also wonder why a person would need it. Is it covering up a problem and will it still fail at a most inopportune time? I've gotta check that stuff out to get rid of my winter morning sickness. Thanks for being a guinea pig.

asjwalsh

That's the weird thing, the snake oil hasn't worked but I think that is because there isn't a problem with the pump.
One thing I noticed, the pump pulley belt track is really really shiny, like it has been polished, which it probably has by the slipping belt. I wondered if I took some took some emery paper to it whether that would help with grip?
I really believe all the pulleys are in fact original, so why can't I get the original sized belt on????????
I did take the original belt to autozone when I replaced it and they gave me the exact same, which didn't fit. I took their belt back and they replaced it with a bigger one, which did. Then I tried the OEM one ($54!!!!) which didn't fit.
I would rather have the OEM belt on, it is a more substantial belt than the cheapo version.
Anyone got any tips on how to get a belt that is just a few mils too short on???

asjwalsh

OK, I read some more threads that I found through a Google search. I came to the conclusion that I needed to try one more time to get the OEM belt on. This time, having watched a nice little movie on youtube about how to get the tensioner to move to the max, we attacked it from a different angle, using the offset wrench from the drivers side and pulling up (instead of kneeling on the passenger side and pushing down. Then, instead of putting the belt over the alternator last, we threaded everything but the actual tensioner pulley. And this time, since the tensioner pulley has no lip, it worked. Steering works at idle with ac running. Hurray!!

The more things I fix on this car (even if I messed it up in the first place) the more I love it

TWISTERUP

Glad to hear it sorta figured once you got the correct belt back on--your troubles would go away. Thanks for posting the fix.