I have a serpentine belt assy from a 302 and have thought about trying to put it on a y-block. Has anybody ever tried this? I plan on switching to a alternator so thought it would be good time to check. Might make it easier to put ac compressor on if I finish updating the ac.

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

If you mount the compressor above the generator you will need a special bracket to mount it.Unless times have changed and a new bracket is out there. You need a 507 Sanden compressor as nothing else will fit . At least thats the way it was on my bird. Serpentine would look cool.

55Birdman  Hickory NC

Contact Don Hyde, Ford Craft-Plano, TX. 972-423-4636 - His bracket set uses a Sandin 507 compressor (shorter length than 508 I think) mounted above the alternator. I don't know if he can use serpentine belts and haven't seen his set up but have discussed the issue with him regarding AC set up for my 57 F-100. He said his brackets are aluminum for T'Birds.

BoogieN

I have retrofitted some 2002 Cummins ISM engines to use Serpentine belts like is used in the later EGR engines and I feel it is worth the effort because these trucks travel 125,000 miles a year and changing v belts adds a lot to maintenance. However, I don't drive my Y blocks enough to justify changing pulleys and figuring out where to mount an tensioner.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

When using a serpentine, be sure that the water pump is not driven off the back (flat) side side of the belt like some serpentine applications do.  This reverses the rotation of the water pump, and they have pumps designed for reverse rotation.  Y pumps may not be efficient enough running backwards.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I've been asked about this and therefore thought about this many times. A Y-Block water pump must run in standard rotation. It just wouldn't move any water in reverse. It will take a lot of thinking to keep the pump running CW and get the wrap around the pulleys you need.

If you can mount an alternator in tight to the water pump but about half way between the pump and the damper height wise, then mount the compressor about where the original generator mounted, it might work. The alternator would be the idler, with flat pulley and would run in reverse.

So, from the bottom of the damper, up and over the alternator, down and out to the compressor, up and in to the water pump, back down to the damper. SIMPLE?

I hope you don't have P/S also.

Have fun with this thread.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

In theory it actually shouldn't be too difficult to get the water pump to work running backwards as long as the impeller has straight vanes on it.  The scoop cast into the timing case cover (TCC) would have to be reworked so that it comes very close to the impeller on the opposite side of the top of the TCC and the hole in the back of the pump cavity moved to the right side.  Also the scroll would need to be filled and ground so that it gets wider exactly opposite to the way it does now. Think of it as sort of installing the T bird spacer on backwards. There may not be enough metal in the right places to do this. The inlet around the pump shaft is pretty semetrical so it wont have too much effect.  Do not speed the pump up from what it currently, faster means more cavitation and that is BAD!!.  This is would be a pretty big development project for those with a machine shop.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.