'60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

[Bob Malone #35242]

When I disassembled my car, it had a plate mounted to the rt hand exhaust manifold upon which the generator mounting bracket bolted. The result was it raised the generator up and moved it forward about 3/4". The fan belt alignment was correct but only because the engine had double groove pulleys on both the water pump and harmonic balancer. Now, I've replaced the pulleys with the correct single groove pulleys and as you can guess, my fan belt alignment is off by 3/4". I tried removing the plate and mounting the generator bracket directly to the exhaust manifold. This corrected the belt alignment BUT there is no way I can see to keep the fan belt from rubbing the heater hose coming off the water pump and the motor mount. The hose rubbing problem was an occasional problem even when I had the double groove pulleys and I had to watch it very closely to ensure the belt was always tight.
What am I missing here? I can't imagine that the water pump and harmonic balancer pulleys should have spacers to push them forward the necessary 3/4".

[Ed Jennings]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob, Check your AIM and be sure the generator bracket is turned the right way. There is an "upside-down" which will affect the alignment of the pulleys. I'm refering to the U-shaped bracket. The flat plate may have an up and down also, but it's not referenced in the AIM.

[John M.]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob, Two things come to mind. 1. Is the spacer behind the harmonic balancer?
2. Does the Generator have the correct fan/pulley assy which has the space between the pulley and the fan? If both spaces are missing then the misalignment will be approx. 1/2- 3/4" off. The spacer on the crank goes behind the harmonic balancer and compensates for the thickness of the motor mount plate.
If you lay a straight edge across the crank pulley, it should line up with the waterpump pulley. If it does not then the spacer is missing, or the pulley/ harmonic balancer is incorrect,or the water pump/ pulley is incorrect. If it misaligns by approx 1/4" then I would bet on the spacer. The plate on your manifold sounds like the correct plate for your car, and if you look at the AIM you should see it being used. The correct fan pulley for a 58 and later base generator, should have a approx 1/4" space between them. If the pulley is not spaced away then it is probably a passenger car pulley or eariler model corvette one. There are a lot of other possible items that can cause misalignment, but theese are the most overlooked items. Good luck, John

[Loren L.]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Do you have the correct harmonice balancer?

[Ed Jennings]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob, I checked the AIM, as I didn't trust my memory. The off center holes should be DOWN. Thsi will throw tuor pulleys off if they are up. How do I know? I tried it the other way before I looked closely at the AIM.

[Bob Malone #35242]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

John,
I think you may have hit on at least part of the problem. I'm fairly confident that I don't have the harmonic balancer spacer. That would account for that particular pulley not lining up with the generator IF it moves it out 3/4" but I don't understand why the water pump pulley is off. I bought new pulleys for both the water pump and harmonic balancer to replace the dual groove pulleys I had.
FYI, I bought a water pump pulley reinforcement but returned it because I didn't think it was the right one. It did not fit flush inside the pulley. In effect, it pushed the water pump pulley out about 1/2". Is that the way it should fit?
Is there any reason you can think of why I should not just install 3/4" bolt spacers to move both the water pump and harmonic balancer out to the proper distance? That seems like the easiest fix to me and I am not going for Bloomington Gold status, just a beautiful car I can enjoy and show.
Thanks

[Bob Malone #35242]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Ed, I checked and the generator bracket I have has slotted holes but the mounting plate has holes that will not allow the bracket to be adjusted front to back. Both the bolts on the "U" bracket are at the outter most postion and measures the same no matter which way I turn it.
No matter how I look at it, it still looks to me like the water pump pulley and harmonic balancer pulley are the culprits due to the fan belt interference at their current locations.
Check John McGraw's input and my response above. What's your opinion of simply moving the two pulleys out with bolt spacers?

[Ed Jennings]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob. I'm not sure you have the correct combination of parts in your brackets. The U bracket has a passenger car counterpart(s) that have different hole spacing. I would not space the pulley out, particularly on the generator as it will increase the overhung load on the generator bearing. I would reserve that as a last resort. The Corvette U bracket should have unequally spaced bolt holes,with the bolt holes offset on the flat portion. It is correctly installed when the bracket is installed with the offsets to the bottom. I have a passenger car bracket that came on a used generator I bought that has entirely different hole spacing from the bracket on my car. I wonder if you might have one of these passenger car brackets. They look just the same except for the hole location.

[John M.]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob, If the balancer spacer is missing I would replace it, it is an easy job and can be done without disturbing the front seal. The pulley reinforcement should be a very thin piece of metal and should not space the pulley out from the water pump flange at all. As for the 3/4" gap you must remember that if the water pump pulley is the only thing in the right place, then a 1/4" misalignment at the harmonic balancer will equate to a 1/2" misalignment at the generator due to the distance from the pivot point(the water pump pulley). If you have close to another 1/4" of misalignment at the generator due to the improper pulley then you can get real close to 3/4". Or you could have the improper bracket as several people have suggested. I would get the harmonic balancer pulley and the water pump pulley aligned with each other before I would even start on the generator. all the proper parts are available to make it work and in the end it will probably be eaiser to get the proper combination working togrther. If you have a digital camera, take some picturesof all the component parts and Email it to me, and I will see if all the pulleys,ect look correct. John

[Bob Malone #35242]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Ed & John,
I think I have a combination of problems.
First, I don't believe I have a harmonic balancer spacer installed however, the water pump pulley DOES line up with it. The alignment is only off by a fraction which I think would be corrected if I installed a properly fitting water pump pulley reinforcement piece.
Secondly, Based on your input, I'm confident I have the wrong parts attaching the generator. I would not be surprised if both the "u" bracket and the manifold bracket are wrong. I'm going to take everything off today and I'll take pictures and email to both of you for your inspection.
I don't know about the generator but I'll photo it as well.
I really appreciate all the help.

[John H.]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob -

Identifying the correct parts will put you on the right track. Don't consider using bolt spacers for the pulleys, as they will concentrate the belt loads around each bolt hole and result in fatigue failure of the pulleys; the pulleys are designed to have the entire bolt pattern surface in solid contact with the item they're bolted to in order to spread the belt loads over the entire surface, not just at the bolt holes.

[Bob Malone #35242]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

John, I agree spacers are not a long term fix. I did put spacers behind the water pump and harmonic balancer pulleys just to see if it would line up. By using 3/4" spacers, I just have clearance so the fan belt does not interfere with the heater hose and motor mount and I get proper alignment with the generator pulley.
I suspect I may have an incorrect harmonic balancer and possibly even generator mounting brackets but that still doesn't solve why the water pump pulley would be off that far.

[Bob Malone #35242]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

John and Ed,
I've just looked at a completed '61 rolling chassis with the engine mounted and found that the pulleys are in fact different from what I got from the good Dr. The harmonic balancer pulley has the belt groove offset away from the harmonic balancer about 3/4" whereas the one I received mounts flush with the harmonic balancer.
Also, the water pump pulley on the '61 was 3/4 less deep than what I received. Combined they match up with each other and the generator perfectly. According to the catalogs I've seen, all 58-62 use the same pulleys. The '61 I inspected was also a single 4 bbl car, just like my '60.
When I ordered the pulleys, I also ordered the water pump pulley reinforcement but it would not fit inside the pulley so I returned it, thinking it was wrong. Turns out, it may have been the only piece that was correct.
Does what I'm describing coincide with your cars?

[John M.]

Re: '60 Fan Belt & Generator Alignment Problem

Bob, that sounds right. The bottom pulley does step away from the balancer approx 3/4". Sounds like you are back on track. John