Pulley and belt alignment problems?

I'm wrapping up the rebuild on my 82 slant D-150. It's the same block, same power steering pump, same bolts, same everything. But the pulley on the PS pump doesn't line up well with the crank pulley. I know the crank pulley was fully seated when installed. I just double checked it, verifying it lines up perfectly with the alternator and fan pulleys.

Using a straightedge to check the pulleys, and pulling the PS pump as far forwards as I can, there is still about 1/8"-3/16" or so of misalignment between the pulleys. Here are pics measured at the top and bottom of the PS pulley.





A visual check of the pulley has some indication that it may have been this way originally. I don't know for sure as I didn't notice anything odd when pulling the motor for the rebuild. The radiator side of the PS pulley groove is polished down a little over halfway to the bottom of the center groove. The rear side of the pulley is only polished for about a quarter of the distance to the bottom of the groove.

Is this a big deal or not? If it isn't likely to cause a problem I'm inclined to run it as is. If it needs to be fixed the only way I see to do so would be to remove material from the rear of the mounting holes, effectively letting the whole unit move closer to the radiator.

What say you, experienced mechanics of the world?

From the web:

You should be able to put shims behind the brakets and move the pump forward. Might need bolts that are longer too.

Is it possible that the crank and water pump pullies should have a second grove that would line up properly?

Post a photo of the entire pulley system, alt, crank, WP etc from the side

I have had the same experience on my 85 D150 I "tweaked" the triangle bracket that bolts to the bottom of the block back about 3/8" so the belt alignment was a lot better. I've seen many junk yard small blocks that were in the same condition so it seems to be common

Dana67Dart said:

You should be able to put shims behind the brakets and move the pump forward. Might need bolts that are longer too.

Is it possible that the crank and water pump pullies should have a second grove that would line up properly?

Post a photo of the entire pulley system, alt, crank, WP etc from the side

Click to expand...

The crank does have a second groove, but that doesn't line up either. Here are some photos, and I'll get more/better ones today. To recap, the only thing that's been changed on all the pulleys and belts from the original configuration is the water pump, bought new at NAPA. All the rest is the same, and I bagged/tagged everything when disassembling.

Here is a side shot of the alternator to crank pulley, both grooves line up perfectly.



Here is the water pump to crank pulley. The groove on the water pump falls between the two crank grooves.



Here's the power steering pump to crank photo, the power steering pump needs to come toward the radiator about 1/8" or so to line up.



This stuff is driving me batty. I keep fiddling with it and I keep getting nowhere. I tried two different water pumps, they are all off. I suppose I can hog out the mounting bolt holes on the PS bracket to get some adjustment forward, otherwise I'm stumped. Is is possible this was all wacky for the last 40 years?

halfafish said:

I'm wrapping up the rebuild on my 82 slant D-150. It's the same block, same power steering pump, same bolts, same everything. But the pulley on the PS pump doesn't line up well with the crank pulley. I know the crank pulley was fully seated when installed. I just double checked it, verifying it lines up perfectly with the alternator and fan pulleys.

Using a straightedge to check the pulleys, and pulling the PS pump as far forwards as I can, there is still about 1/8"-3/16" or so of misalignment between the pulleys. Here are pics measured at the top and bottom of the PS pulley.

View attachment 1715745042

View attachment 1715745043

A visual check of the pulley has some indication that it may have been this way originally. I don't know for sure as I didn't notice anything odd when pulling the motor for the rebuild. The radiator side of the PS pulley groove is polished down a little over halfway to the bottom of the center groove. The rear side of the pulley is only polished for about a quarter of the distance to the bottom of the groove.

Is this a big deal or not? If it isn't likely to cause a problem I'm inclined to run it as is. If it needs to be fixed the only way I see to do so would be to remove material from the rear of the mounting holes, effectively letting the whole unit move closer to the radiator.

What say you, experienced mechanics of the world?

Click to expand...

Shim it out till they are perfect .

I have seen guys pull the pressed on pulley off the shaft some. It’s on a long ways. Or it simply has the wrong pulley on it. Kim

First off that looks like a slant six. The crank damper has a groove that should line up with the water pump pulley, and the rear groove of the alternator pulley. The rear "bolt on" sheiv of the crank is for air conditioning if equiped. The front "bolt on" sheiv is for the power steering.

Is it posable that the crank pulley is not seated all the way.

OR
not knowing anything about /6 could it be on backwards?

Charrlie_S said:

First off that looks like a slant six. The crank damper has a groove that should line up with the water pump pulley, and the rear groove of the alternator pulley. The rear "bolt on" sheiv of the crank is for air conditioning if equiped. The front "bolt on" sheiv is for the power steering.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's a slant. Your info on which groove should run what matches what I have, I just can't get them to line up.

Dana67Dart said:

Is it posable that the crank pulley is not seated all the way.

OR
not knowing anything about /6 could it be on backwards?

Click to expand...

I considered if the crank damper might not be fully seated. I tried to double check it but I can't do so at the moment. Trying to remove the bolt is just turning the engine over, the bolt is very tight. I have the driveshaft out for new u-joints, once it's back in I can hold the engine still to get the bolt out and double check the damper. There is no way it can go on backwards.

You could use the rope trick.

Bring a cyl to TDC of the compression stroke, back off a bit. Stuff some cotton rope into the cyl through the spark plugs hole, rotate crank till the rope gets compressed and you can not turn the crank.

Remember you will need to do this in the right crank turning direction to remove and again to reinstall to work.

Be SURE both valves are closed or you could bend one.

I have seen many v belts run misaligned just fine. If it doesn’t squeal, maybe it doesn’t really matter. Try it and see.