Waterpump Pulley Alignment

[Lorne G.]

I just finished detailing my engine and repainted all brackets and pulleys etc. When I installed my three groove waterpump pulley ( 67 BB w/ p/s and A/C ) I noticed the grooves do not line up with the power steering pulley and are off about 1/8". It seems the w/p pulley has to come forward a bit to make the belt straight in line with the p/s pulley. The belt now angles back slightly from the P/S to the w/p pulley and I am postive it did not angle back before. The current angle will probably make the belt jump off the pulley.

Am i missing something? Did i lose a washer or spacer that may have been behind the w/p pulley?

Lorne

[Jack H.]

Re: Waterpump Pulley Alignment

Well, it's not called out in the AIM for BB engines, but for SB motors there's a water pump pulley reinforcement plate that installs between the hub of the water pump and the pulley (see AIM, UPC 6, Sheet A3) and it's about that thickness...

Also, did you have the water pump rebuilt? The drive hub is press-fit onto the pump's shaft and that's a judgement call by the pump rebuilder...

[Clem Z.]

Re: Waterpump Pulley Alignment

I just finished detailing my engine and repainted all brackets and pulleys etc. When I installed my three groove waterpump pulley ( 67 BB w/ p/s and A/C ) I noticed the grooves do not line up with the power steering pulley and are off about 1/8". It seems the w/p pulley has to come forward a bit to make the belt straight in line with the p/s pulley. The belt now angles back slightly from the P/S to the w/p pulley and I am postive it did not angle back before. The current angle will probably make the belt jump off the pulley.

Am i missing something? Did i lose a washer or spacer that may have been behind the w/p pulley?

Lorne

you are lucky you need to space it out as you can buy shims to do this at the auto parts. if you had to move it back you would have to remove the pump,remove the back cover plate a use a press to move the pulley flange while supporting the shaft from the rear. the best way to check pulley alignment is to take a piece of 1/4" diameter steel rod and bend it 90 degrees. lay the bend in the pulley and the straight part of the rod should line up in the center of the other pulley

[Lorne G.]

Re: Waterpump Pulley Alignment

I did not replace the waterpump so the problem has to reside with the pulleys and shims ( or lack of). Seems like the only fix is to put shims behind the w/p pulley and bring it out even with the P/S pulley.

Thanks for the advise guys.

Lorne

[Tom W.]

Re: Waterpump Pulley Alignment

Based upon recommendations from this forum, I successfuly "pulled" my Waterpump pulley flange forward about 1/4" using a 3-prong puller (purchased at Pep Boys). Alot of WD-40 helped. The pulley was spaced with washers by previous owner after a waterpump replacement. It now clears the WP just fine & aligns with the other pulleys.
Hope this helps.

[Joe L.]

Re: Waterpump Pulley Alignment

I just finished detailing my engine and repainted all brackets and pulleys etc. When I installed my three groove waterpump pulley ( 67 BB w/ p/s and A/C ) I noticed the grooves do not line up with the power steering pulley and are off about 1/8". It seems the w/p pulley has to come forward a bit to make the belt straight in line with the p/s pulley. The belt now angles back slightly from the P/S to the w/p pulley and I am postive it did not angle back before. The current angle will probably make the belt jump off the pulley.

Am i missing something? Did i lose a washer or spacer that may have been behind the w/p pulley?

Lorne

Lorne-----


The dimension from the face of the waterpump hub to the block mating surface of the legs should be 5-3/4". If it's any other measurement, then you need to move the hub so that it meets this dimension. If it is this dimension, then I would say you have some other problem in your pulley system.

If the dimension is less than 5-3/4", you can use special shims as others have suggested to correct it instead of moving the hub. Shims are manufactured by Moroso and others for this purpose and are very inexpensive.