1969 belt size ??????

[Kenny C.]

I purchased a set of cloth wrap belts from Paragon which I believe actually come from Quanta? The car is a L46 with power steering and no a/c and is all stock configuration. The power steering belt fits fine but the alternator belt is too long and even at it maximum adjustment wont get close to being tight. I have checked the pulleys and they are all correct part numbers. The exhaust manifolds are GM replacements as well as the alternator mounts. Everything seems to align correctly and went together without a hitch but the belt seems roughly 3" too long. I checked the belt part number and it seems correct and have measured the belt itself and it matches the spec. Am I missing something here? I know I could simply buy a smaller belt and it would function fine but since I have hope of judging some day the correct belt and part number would be preferable, besides there must be something wrong. Input appreciated.
Regards
Kenny

[Pat M.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

Had the same problem with my 70 SB with the same setup. I think that particular Quanta belt is simply not the correct length for whatever reason.

I checked with my local auto parts store and they showed my car should have an alternator belt 53 5/8" long. Bought a Gates belt this size and it fit perfectly. The Quanta belt says it's 54", but it seems much longer.

So, I simply called Quanta and said gimme a belt closest to the correct length, and they came up with part number 3847708. I haven't put it on yet, but it seems to be the correct length. As for judging, my exerience was the judges simply looked for embossed numbers, but didn't actually check them. My guess is if they see numbers it's enough.

[John M.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

Same problem. L46 no power steering. Quanta acted like there was something wrong with my car and that the belt should fit perfectly. They've never heard of the problem before. All puleys correct.

Had to buy a shorter 1965-68 belt to make it fit.

[Dale C.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

Funny this same thing is happening to my alt. belt with my 68 L36 with A/C and no Pwr steering. I have checked all pulley and brace parts for AIM and PN numbers and sizes. The darn alt belt call for 53.75in. and is, but this is about 1 1/2 too long to adjust properly. I think this problem has been talked about before. I did ask Joe L. and we talked about brace and brace mounting for my car, see my thread yesterday. He thinks it may be a belt size thing?????


Dale

[John C.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

From my experience with Quanta belts they either have terrible quality control or they have no clue on what the actual belt lengths should be.

I replaced all the belts on my 68 and 69 BBs this past winter with new Quanta belts and all would not fit properly initially. I finally did get 5 of the 6 belts to fit properly after getting new replacements sent. The alternator belt for my 69 with out PS was at least 3 inches short and was never going to fit so I had to eventually just put on a generic replacement from NAPA.

John

[Kenny C.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

It really does seem as if Quanta has no real idea of the correct belt lengths. Possibly they originally got a measurement from a car with a incorrect setup and they have been cloning it ever since? I emailed them about my issue and they said as far as they were concerned my belt was the correct one (it clearly is not) but if I measure the distance around the pulleys they will see what they can do to find a belt in their inventory to match. This may work to get a functioning cloth wrap belt but will have the wrong part number, and isn't the point of using these types of belts and spending extra money "to get the correct belt numbers and all"? If you get a point deduction for "wrong belt" you may as well use a cheaper and frankly better modern belt?

[Richard R.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

As an update to this problem....

it's still occurring. I bought all 3 belts from Quanta for my 69 L46, no air and no power steering. The Alt belt was too long - their part no 3959166 - measured 54.25" outer circumference. the belt that was on the car when I bought it was 52.5" and fit well. Quanta acted like they had never heard of this before, but they did give me an exchange for it. Their number 3847702 which to their specs was 52.6" was received today and it fits well. Alternator ends up in the middle of the adjustment range.

The other two belts fit well and required no additional issues.

Thanks,

Rich

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

As an update to this problem....

it's still occurring. I bought all 3 belts from Quanta for my 69 L46, no air and no power steering. The Alt belt was too long - their part no 3959166 - measured 54.25" outer circumference. the belt that was on the car when I bought it was 52.5" and fit well. Quanta acted like they had never heard of this before, but they did give me an exchange for it. Their number 3847702 which to their specs was 52.6" was received today and it fits well. Alternator ends up in the middle of the adjustment range.

The other two belts fit well and required no additional issues.

Thanks,

Rich

Rich------

One thing to keep in mind: the belts shown in the AIM and, even, those shown for an application in an early edition of the P&A Catalogs may not be the ones that St. Louis actually used on the cars. The problem is that very few cars with known-original belts are out there.

[Dick W.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

And the GM parts books from that era add to the confusion. Many of the belts in the GM catalog do not come close to fitting. Never understood why those errors continued throughout the printing of subsequent editions

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

And the GM parts books from that era add to the confusion. Many of the belts in the GM catalog do not come close to fitting. Never understood why those errors continued throughout the printing of subsequent editions

Dick------

I think most of the P&A Catalog information came right from the AIM's or related GM internal documents. So, if they are wrong, the catalogs will be wrong, too.

[Dick W.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

Dick------

I think most of the P&A Catalog information came right from the AIM's or related GM internal documents. So, if they are wrong, the catalogs will be wrong, too.

What gets me is that there was a procedure for the dealer parts department to send in errors/corrections. I believe it was a postcard. It is hard to believe that for the 20 years the 1968 and subsequent errors that someone did not send those cards in.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

What gets me is that there was a procedure for the dealer parts department to send in errors/corrections. I believe it was a postcard. It is hard to believe that for the 20 years the 1968 and subsequent errors that someone did not send those cards in.

Dick------


Yes, there were postcards included with some P&A Catalogs for this purpose. In fact, I still have some.

A few things that folks could do to determine if the Quanta reproduction belts are accurate:

1) Measure the Quanta belt of a certain GM part number with a belt length measuring device and see if the belt length matches the belt length for that GM part number shown in the P&A catalogs. I believe the belt length shown in the P&A Catalogs for any given belt part number is generally correct even if the application information for that belt is not correct;

2) Compare an NOS GM belt of a given part number with the Quanta reproduction of that same part number. If the lengths are the same, then the Quanta belt(s) is accurate. If the Quanta belt(s) is not the same, then the Quanta belts are not accurate. It's that simple. I have many NOS GM belts [none for sale] although quite a few are the 7/16" 1973 and later. However, I have few Quanta belts to compare them to.

If it turns out that any particular Quanta belt of a certain GM part number is accurate in length and that belt does not fit the Corvette application calling for that belt part number in the AIM, then that means that belt part number was not the one actually used in PRODUCTION. Period.

[Ray K.]

Re: 1969 belt size ??????

Dick,, Joe, All,

I used those mail in post card regularly whenever I found a misprint or error in the parts catalogs. I still have several of those cards attached to my P @ A catalogs. They usually produced results with the corrected information although you might not know until the next catalog printing.

In the mid -sixties ( beginning probably in 1962 ) the dealers complained very loudly to Chevrolet that it took way too much time to select a " belt " for a given application and then it was usually wrong. We complained about this problem for about three years and so Chevrolet came up the solution that they would create a " fan belt chart " based on the year of the vehicle with sub groupings according to engine size and added equipment. My '67 P & A catalog ( July 1-67 ) has this new improved chart featured for the 1967 model year for pass car and Corvette, but not light trucks. My '69 catalog has charts for the '67, 68, 69 model years. The Chevelle catalog also adopted this format. Did it help - Not Much! The catalogs were still wrong. It a technician had a work order to replace all the the belts on a customer vehicle, the smart ones would bring the original belts to the parts dept with the part numbers and sizes stamped on them, and then we could usually match them up. It does not surprise me that Corvette owners continue to have problems with belts after 50 years because the original catalog information was very frequently incorrect.

Ray