1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

[Greg L.]

Are the base engine crank and water pump pulleys corvette only items or can they be found on other chevy cars/trucks?

I just noticed that mine are wrong. They are too far back and this has the fan belt running so close to the new heater hose that I installed that it is starting to cut into it. I took note of a 61 on the weekend and noticed that the pulleys are set about an inch or more farther ahead than mine is and has lots of room between it's heater hose and fan belt.

Any thoughts or advice on where to find some pulleys that will work for me would be appreciated. This is just a driver so they don't have to be NCRS correct, just function properly.

Thanks

[Wayne L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Greg, I did that 61 engine, and I did several things to get the proper position of the pulleys. Call me at 253-638-6763 or shoot me an email at wloron@comcast.net. When everything is put together correctly, that puts the fan at the best position in the shroud for optimum cooling.
I have seen other 58-62's with the same problem. There are several things to look for besides the incorrect pulleys, like the spacer that is supposed to be between the timing gear sprocket and harmonic balancer. Also, the position of the fan hub on the water pump shaft needs to be 5-11/16" from the front of the hub to the mounting surface of the pump. There is also a heater hose retainer mounted under the generator that helps to hold the hoses "out of the way".

[Greg L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Hi Wayne,
You did an awesome job on that engine and that goes for the whole car!!

Here is what I'm dealing with on my 60(see first two pics). The two side by side hose clamps is to keep the belt from cutting into the hoses The last pic is yours that I'm using for a reference.

I have the bracket under the generator but have no idea of the dimension from the hub to the water pump flange. Seeing as my engine is from a 67 chevelle I assume that the pulleys, water pump and balancer are from it. I think that if I could get a set of pulleys like yours that I could make it work even if I had to shim the water pump one a bit. I'm not really sure what to do at this point other than replacing the water pump, harmonic balancer and puleys with corvette items and also installing that spacer. I hope I don't need to get that drastic to fix my problem so that's why I hope other pullyes from other chevys cars/trucks of the era will work....but maybe not.

Any other ideas?

[Wayne L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Greg-from your pictures, it looks like the pulleys are incorrect. You will notice that the groove for the belt on the 61 engine is set out from the balancer about an inch or so. Also note that the Corvette pulleys are deep groove. I'm not aware of any other pulleys that will work. Both the crank and water pump pulleys are available from Paragon, Corvette Central, etc. There is also a trapezoidal shaped plate that bolts to the right side exhaust manifold, and the generator bolts to that plate. This puts the generator forward about an inch or so to match the crank pulley. You could try adding the plate and changing the pulleys to see if you can get close. To put the spacer inside the timing chain cover is a big job. You can get the balancer off okay with the engine in the car, but getting back in may not work unless the crank snout is drilled and threaded so that you can use a balancer installation tool instead of a sledge hammer to get the balancer back on.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Are the base engine crank and water pump pulleys corvette only items or can they be found on other chevy cars/trucks?

I just noticed that mine are wrong. They are too far back and this has the fan belt running so close to the new heater hose that I installed that it is starting to cut into it. I took note of a 61 on the weekend and noticed that the pulleys are set about an inch or more farther ahead than mine is and has lots of room between it's heater hose and fan belt.

Any thoughts or advice on where to find some pulleys that will work for me would be appreciated. This is just a driver so they don't have to be NCRS correct, just function properly.

Thanks

Greg-----


The 1960 Corvette harmonic balancer pulley, GM #3756328, was a Corvette-only piece. The waterpump pulley, GM #3724816, was "mostly Corvette-only" but was also shared with passenger cars with high performance 348 with 3X2.

[Greg L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Thanks Joe. I guess I'll go ahead and order the right ones then seeing as they are about as rare as the bellhousing.

Wayne, do you know how thick that spacer is? I was thinking that I might as well order it too and do it right. Ya installing an harmonic balancer can be a big pain but what I do is heat them up for half an hour or so and if I get the temp right they will just slide into place. Works pretty slick!

[Wayne L.]

Re: 1960 base engine crank and water pump pulleys

Greg-the spacer that goes between the timing gear sprocket and the harmonic balancer is about 1/8" thick.