BB water pump pulley replacement.

[69427]

Just put my w/p pulley on my HF digital scale. (Damn, this thing is handy!) This pulley is almost three freaking pounds (42 oz)! Given that I don't need the front groove (A.I.R. pump drive), I'd like to find a two groove pulley that would be a bit lighter, and the lack of an unused pulley would look a bit better, too. I don't wing the crap out of this engine, so I don't see the need to stay with deep type grooves if that would open up the possibility of finding a suitable replacement. (I'm rusty on my V-belt knowledge, so I don't know if there's issues when a belt has to run in mixed depth pulleys.)

Any suggestions?

TIA

(I thought I posted this before, but the search function wasn't helpful.)

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Why not go to a flat belt system?

What kind of water pump do you have?

 

[mrvette]

Just put my w/p pulley on my HF digital scale. (Damn, this thing is handy!) This pulley is almost three freaking pounds (42 oz)! Given that I don't need the front groove (A.I.R. pump drive), I'd like to find a two groove pulley that would be a bit lighter, and the lack of an unused pulley would look a bit better, too. I don't wing the crap out of this engine, so I don't see the need to stay with deep type grooves if that would open up the possibility of finding a suitable replacement. (I'm rusty on my V-belt knowledge, so I don't know if there's issues when a belt has to run in mixed depth pulleys.)

Any suggestions?

TIA

(I thought I posted this before, but the search function wasn't helpful.)

Tought time finding a V belt pulley that ain't rusty....goes along with your knowledge......

 

[BBShark]

I have a two groove WP pulley that I just weighed at 28oz.

 

[69427]

Why not go to a flat belt system?

What kind of water pump do you have?

Way down the road I'm thinking about putting a serpentine belt on it. I don't care for the component placement of most of the systems I've seen, so I'm anticipating doing most of the parts procurement and bracket fabrication myself. It's going to take a long while to find the pulleys I want, so I'm just continuing with the current v-belt system for the time being.

As far as water pump, it's just the normal rotation aluminum Chevy part.

 

[69427]

I have a two groove WP pulley that I just weighed at 28oz.

That's 33% lighter. That's the direction I'm trying to go. What's it off of? I'm trying to compare the groove spacing/separation of this pulley with other Chevy pulleys. Thankfully this item isn't holding up progress on getting the car back on the road, and I've got some time to compare different pulleys while I'm finishing the engine. Other plans are to just lug this thing around at different swap meets until I find a suitable replacement.

I'm curious about earlier big block (pre A.I.R.) pulleys. I would guess that Corvette pulleys would be similar in backspacing, but I'm guessing other BB cars (Camaros, Impalas, etc) might have completely different pulleys due to using the long water pumps.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Why not go to a flat belt system?

What kind of water pump do you have?

Way down the road I'm thinking about putting a serpentine belt on it. I don't care for the component placement of most of the systems I've seen, so I'm anticipating doing most of the parts procurement and bracket fabrication myself. It's going to take a long while to find the pulleys I want, so I'm just continuing with the current v-belt system for the time being.

As far as water pump, it's just the normal rotation aluminum Chevy part.

I'm not specifically talking about a serpentine setup, simply a flat belt instead of V belts. I did it too on several cars. Runs so much cleaner and the pulleys can be bought in many variations. Here's some examples. All have a dedicated crank to WP pulley w/ the P.st. run off the crank and the alt run off the WP

 

[BBShark]

That's 33% lighter. That's the direction I'm trying to go. What's it off of? I'm trying to compare the groove spacing/separation of this pulley with other Chevy pulleys. Thankfully this item isn't holding up progress on getting the car back on the road, and I've got some time to compare different pulleys while I'm finishing the engine. Other plans are to just lug this thing around at different swap meets until I find a suitable replacement.

I'm curious about earlier big block (pre A.I.R.) pulleys. I would guess that Corvette pulleys would be similar in backspacing, but I'm guessing other BB cars (Camaros, Impalas, etc) might have completely different pulleys due to using the long water pumps.

It measures about 2 5/8 inches from the mounting surface of the water pump to the back of the pulley. Not sure there is much difference in long/short water pump pulleys. The difference is the depth of the crank pulley.

 

[69427]

..........
It measures about 2 5/8 inches from the mounting surface of the water pump to the back of the pulley. Not sure there is much difference in long/short water pump pulleys. The difference is the depth of the crank pulley.

I'm getting about the same depth measurement on my pulley. What's the OD of that pulley? (Mine is 5 1/2 inches.) What engine/vehicle does your pulley fit?

I wasn't thinking straight in the earlier post. I believe you're correct about the crank pulley compensating for the length of the pump.

 

[69427]

I'm not specifically talking about a serpentine setup, simply a flat belt instead of V belts. I did it too on several cars. Runs so much cleaner and the pulleys can be bought in many variations. Here's some examples.......... All have a dedicated crank to WP pulley w/ the P.st. run off the crank and the alt run off the WP

Some clean looking setups! I'll definitely look into that.

 

[BBShark]

..........
It measures about 2 5/8 inches from the mounting surface of the water pump to the back of the pulley. Not sure there is much difference in long/short water pump pulleys. The difference is the depth of the crank pulley.

I'm getting about the same depth measurement on my pulley. What's the OD of that pulley? (Mine is 5 1/2 inches.) What engine/vehicle does your pulley fit?

I wasn't thinking straight in the earlier post. I believe you're correct about the crank pulley compensating for the length of the pump.

Looks like it is about 6 inches OD. It is PN 3876846 DJ, a quick Google search comes up with various applications from 63 Corvette to Camaro and Chevelle. It looks like the other 2 groove aftermarket pulleys that you find on Ebay (for example). It would be nice if they listed the dimensions.