Fat Hack
09-06-2004, 10:08 AM
Ha Ha Ha...old time parts guys will remember that slogan from Dayco years back! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Spent the last two days trying to accomplish what seemed to be a fairly simple task...making an alternator be on my car and WORK! It's turned into one of those deceptive traps that boggles the mind with a simple illusion that gives way to many puzzling geometric abnormalities...or, in short...it's harder than it looked!
(Nevermind the gas pedal/throttle linkage...I've resigned myself to the fact that this car can ONLY operate at fast idle using the gears to control speed...when and if it ever gets to the point of being ready to drive...there is just NO way to connect point A (gas pedal) to point B (carburetor)...can't be done!)
Anyhow...on the subject of belts...I'm here to recommend Auto Zone as your source for v-belts...they're idiots...you'll have to feed them the part number and make 'em go fetch...but they blow everyone else away on price!
Most belts use a part number that indicates the series (width, essentially) and the length (looped into a circle, of course) of the belt. Some makers list the series first, and the length second, and other makers do it the reverse way, but the information is the same.
For example...
If you need a 41.5" belt for a standard water pump/alternator pulley arrangement, your part number will be either 15415, or 41515 depending on manufacturer. That indicates a 15 series belt that is 41 and a half inches long. Easy stuff!
(There are also 13 and 17 series belts...13 being thin belts commonly found on air pumps, and 17 series belts being big, beefy muthas! 15 series belts are most common.)
Now, many "cheaper" belt companies only offer belts in half inch incriments, such a 15400, 15405, 15410 for 40 inch, 40 and a half inch and 41 inch lengths...but Goodyear breaks their belts down to tenths to fit those oddball applications that might fall between two half inch measurements, such as a 15412 belt that will be 41.2 inches long.
Design your belt driven accessories with plenty of adjustment in them, and you'll be able to use the "cheaper" brands sold in half inch incriments.
As far as price...most parts stores around here want $10-$12 for a 15410 (or 41015) belt...but Auto Zone sells Kelly Springfield brand cogged v-belts in that size for $2.99! The quality is good, and you can afford to buy a SPARE belt...and STILL have enough dough left over for a Happy Meal on the way back home to install the belt!
(The Happy Meal will also come with a Hot Wheels car...cooool!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)
Now...don't ask me why...but pulleys expand and contract while you are out buying belts. Not so much that you can see it with the naked eye...but if you try a 42 inch belt and it's way too long...by the time you return with a 41 inch belt, the mollecules in the pulleys will have rearranged themselves so that the 41 inch belt is about four sizes too small! You have to "trick" the mollecules by bringing home THREE belts, and trying them all out really fast without removing your eyes from the pulleys...if you blink...they'll resize themselves as soon as they figure out what lengths you just bought!!!
I need a hobby...how cool IS scrapbooking, Denise??? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Spent the last two days trying to accomplish what seemed to be a fairly simple task...making an alternator be on my car and WORK! It's turned into one of those deceptive traps that boggles the mind with a simple illusion that gives way to many puzzling geometric abnormalities...or, in short...it's harder than it looked!
(Nevermind the gas pedal/throttle linkage...I've resigned myself to the fact that this car can ONLY operate at fast idle using the gears to control speed...when and if it ever gets to the point of being ready to drive...there is just NO way to connect point A (gas pedal) to point B (carburetor)...can't be done!)
Anyhow...on the subject of belts...I'm here to recommend Auto Zone as your source for v-belts...they're idiots...you'll have to feed them the part number and make 'em go fetch...but they blow everyone else away on price!
Most belts use a part number that indicates the series (width, essentially) and the length (looped into a circle, of course) of the belt. Some makers list the series first, and the length second, and other makers do it the reverse way, but the information is the same.
For example...
If you need a 41.5" belt for a standard water pump/alternator pulley arrangement, your part number will be either 15415, or 41515 depending on manufacturer. That indicates a 15 series belt that is 41 and a half inches long. Easy stuff!
(There are also 13 and 17 series belts...13 being thin belts commonly found on air pumps, and 17 series belts being big, beefy muthas! 15 series belts are most common.)
Now, many "cheaper" belt companies only offer belts in half inch incriments, such a 15400, 15405, 15410 for 40 inch, 40 and a half inch and 41 inch lengths...but Goodyear breaks their belts down to tenths to fit those oddball applications that might fall between two half inch measurements, such as a 15412 belt that will be 41.2 inches long.
Design your belt driven accessories with plenty of adjustment in them, and you'll be able to use the "cheaper" brands sold in half inch incriments.
As far as price...most parts stores around here want $10-$12 for a 15410 (or 41015) belt...but Auto Zone sells Kelly Springfield brand cogged v-belts in that size for $2.99! The quality is good, and you can afford to buy a SPARE belt...and STILL have enough dough left over for a Happy Meal on the way back home to install the belt!
(The Happy Meal will also come with a Hot Wheels car...cooool!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)
Now...don't ask me why...but pulleys expand and contract while you are out buying belts. Not so much that you can see it with the naked eye...but if you try a 42 inch belt and it's way too long...by the time you return with a 41 inch belt, the mollecules in the pulleys will have rearranged themselves so that the 41 inch belt is about four sizes too small! You have to "trick" the mollecules by bringing home THREE belts, and trying them all out really fast without removing your eyes from the pulleys...if you blink...they'll resize themselves as soon as they figure out what lengths you just bought!!!
I need a hobby...how cool IS scrapbooking, Denise??? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif