I had a belt shred a little, so time to replace. instead of just replacing the main belt and tensioner I thought I would replace all 6 pieces. both belts, both idlers, and both tensioners. HOPEFULLY, all is easy to get to and nothing to difficult (that's why I do NOT want to replace the crank / balancer too).
Anyway, looking for info on if I should go with Dayco Kit $167.79, Gates Kit $125.78, ACDELCO Professional (with OE belts) $218.96, or ACDELCO Original Equipment $283.04. (all prices I got from RockAuto)

PROS/CONS? I have headers and air filter with a tune, I don't track it, but I do enjoy driving hard . I'm not concerned with $$$$ but OE seems like a waste vs. professional... Who tried what? with what good/bad results

 

I have nothing to add, sorry.
I will be watching this because I'm thinking of doing this to my 99 vert this off season.

 

I think Gates is fine, also ACDELCO. Rockauto is accurate with correct parts. I may have used Dayco in the past but would use the ACDELCO or Gates.

With the tensioners, an option is to replace the pulleys on them and re use. I would not do that again on the AC tensioner because it is such a pain to get to. That said, I did exactly that on both tensioners about 35,000 miles ago, both fine today including 18 track days later.

I think that replacing the AC belt is a pain. I am an old guy and have to put the car on jack stands and maneuver the AC belt in place from underneath with the help of a long screwdriver.. I swore I would always replace the AC belt anytime I replaced the water pump in the future because of the great access from above with the water pump off the engine. You will have to have the car on jackstands to change the AC tensioner if the water pump is in place.

Be sure to check that the dust shield washers don't rub on or interfere with the pulleys. Some original dust shield washers are incompatible with some aftermarket pulleys and will rub and squeak or bind the aftermarket pulley. Plain 8 mm (10mm?) washers can be substituted if necessary.

 

I would recommend the Katech idler pulley. No spring, you torque it into place. Eliminates chance of throwing belt (due to spring) under heavy load.

 

You may find this video I have here, very helpful. I had a shear failure of my auto tensioner (which was only 2 yrs old) and it caused some major damage. I ended up utilizing a kit that not many Corvette guys change over to, but makes a hell of a difference in space, appearance and is pretty affordable too. It replaces the failure prone auto tensioner, plus adds in some nice billet idlers and pulleys as well.

 

I just did the Gates kits from Rockauto. They fit perfectly. No problems at all. Same with the Gates belts. Went with Gates radiator hoses and it went downhill from there. Their system connects the Gates lower hose to some other hose. Returned it and went with A/C Delco via Amazon for that hose. The C5 specific molded hoses were sourced from Cultrag Performance and that one weird sized heater hose from that guy in Florida that sells hose by the foot. I also got a new A/C water pump and new style thermostat from Amazon.

Now I just need some paint.