Pics and more 2 Here are the remaning photos. I left out the Water hose bracket, it ain't much and I didn't want to hog the post. Weekender :Comp:
Me, I'd just as soon have the drawings and parts list, but it'll be awhile until I'm able to do this, so I'll defer to others...
Weekender, that setup looks awesome! does the modular 4.3 brakcet need any mods (ie. tig welding) or is it just bolt on stuff? I for one would be interested in a complete bracket package, with parts list for pulleys and accessories. I will need a setup for water pump, alt, pwr. steering, and air. I am going to use all the 4.3 accessories. Let me know.
Hi Weekender, have you made anymore progress on this. I would be interested in a complete kit with all the brackets and ready to bolt on.
The paper is done! Hurray! Hi jpoole Yes! I have the drawing completed and I am fine tuning the specs for a perfect fit. I have a local fellowmember that lives within 30 miles and we will be assembling the newest design on his 72 GNX clone to make sure it fits perfectly for your application. Here is an update on what you can expect by way of a bolt on application where everything lines up and you will never hear belt squeal or throw another belt as long as you live. For those who want just the blueprints; remember that two adapters require layout, lathe and drill press work. The two cylinder head adapters require layout, metal saw, drill press,tig welder, finish grinding and threading. If you want just the blueprints and the parts list I hope you have these tools available and talented in their use. For those who want just a brackets and adapter kit everything will be a bolt on. However you will need to purchase the frontend parts from a 4.3 Chevy engine at your local recycler. One of the bracket we supply will need to be tig welded to the alternator and PS oil pump holder to hold an idler pulley since this application does not use the water pump pulley to reverse the belt direction. I am working with a machine shop that uses CNC technology to machine the parts. I will be better prepared to price this out in a few days. Later! Weekender
Just completed pulley adapters I guess my last post didn't post so here an update. I now have the Templates done for the cyclinder head adapters and just finished a pair of pulley adapters. It wont be long and I will have a kit completed and ready for unveiling. I will photographer the basic kit without a couple of misc. brackets for you next week. I will be able to test the system on the Iron Regal to see if I have belt slippage using the 6 blade fan, this is my only concern at this point. Weekender
Sounds great weekender, let me know when you have a price on brackets and adaptors. I definately want a set.
That's cool... I hate v belts. Looks like I would need the compresor to. hmm. may be an oportunity to convert from r 12. would need a condesor, rcver dryer, and a couple other items. wonder how the stock evaporator would work?
Pricing and more Hi Buick lovers! I hope you all, had a great holiday season and all returned home safely. This coming from an insurance agent's point of view, hoping that no one had any collision encounter. I have an approximate price list (see attachment) for your review. I have decided to make the package available in one of three versions. 1- Complete with all the necessary parts as shown in the full part list and pricing. 2- With only my adapter kit package: All adapters and a bolt kit. 3- For you do it yourselfers - A set of drawing which include the major adapters for attachment that provide proper alignment and adaptation to your engine which require extensive machine work. You would need to measure, bend and drill the minor brackets yourself. Several other things to consider: 1. This kit is made for the long nose water pump. you would need to use a 3/4" extender for the proper belt alignment. 2. The used alternator should be rebuilt and converted to a single wire or adaptered to your preference of connection. 3. I will be testing to see if the water pump has enough tension and grip to hold with my six blade fan which is attached to the W/P. If you run electric fans there is no problem at all. My concern is at WOT the belt MAY slip with a fan providing resistance because it only contacts the pulley about 25% of the circumference.Testing will provide the answer and I will share it with you when available. To cold for testing right now. Let me know which one of the packages you would be interested in. Of course, that is if the little lady will allow you to endulge yourself on such a project. I am looking to have several of these complete kits available at Norwalk this Spring if you want to see it first hand. Weekender
I don't want to restart a war over R-12 replacements, but if you go to R-134a, there's a ton of info here at the "ackits.com" website. With 134a, the stock evap should work just fine, and your condensor may work as well. Contrary to GM, the POA valve IS adjustable, and you can recalibrate it for R-134a (or whatever you convert to) pretty easily. I did it on my LeSabre, and it blows a little colder than the R-12 did. YYMV! :bglasses: The only issue I can see is that the original GM A-6 compressor is one of the best compressors ever built, and some of the later GM radial compressors (not sure which one is used here) are absolute junk. Also, the later compressors are designed to cycle on and off, and the original ones were designed to some on and stay on. I have no idea if it'll matter, but it'd be worth researching. :Smarty:
I wondered about that. I have a nice condensor I was wanting to replace the original one(has a crimp in one line) with. can't recall who, but it was said to lightly bottom the set screw and the turn 2 1/2 turns out. If all else failes looks like the compressor on my '94 k1500 would work. since I replaced the oriface, dryer, pulled down and recharged last year, I could freeze meat in in my truck! It has been pretty great. My 98 burban on the other hand... I think it is a woosy mechanical fan issue with slow cool down. it uses a different compressor, but the same condensor dryer and oriface. don't know about the evaperators.
If you're replacing the condenser anyway, you might want to look into a "parallel flow" one, they're supposed to be 1/3 more efficient, as the condenser is the "weak link" in most R-134a conversions. I'm still using the original one, it works fine in my car. o No: Search that a/c forum link on adjusting the POA, there's more to it than the # of turns in/out. It's easy to do, hard to explain. I think any compressor would work, just be aware that you're mixing a/c system designs, and there *might* be some issues when mixing parts from a POA and a CCOT system. (btw, from what I researched, the newer CCOT system is way inferior in engineering design to the POA system - they don't make 'em like they used to!)
Serpentine belt update!! Hi Buick Fans! Weekender here with an update. The air conditioning issues you folks are talking about can all be resolved. After all, its a compressor, the valving and evaporators new or old work under the same principles and pressures, so fear not least ye get ulcers. Everything has gotten quiet since I posted a price list for the various packages. I'm not sure if you people are in a winter funk, detached fro this thread or just lost interest when you found out this could not be done for $100.00. I believe once you see the total package layed out for your viewing the flexibility and value of each package will revive your desire to eliminate the hot rodders nemesis "The dreaded V-belt system". I started the Iron Regal last PM with the new and improved single belt system. Not only did the count down and ignition process make my heart fill with anticipation of the coming spring but the system worked flawlessly. It took some engineering and re-engineering to make it all fit and perform as expected but the result was worth it. :jd: I attached my 6 blade fan on right off the get-go and the belt never slip a bit. As I watched the belts and tightener pulley work I noticed that as I rev'd the motor the tightner actually squeased the belt tighter to the pulleys from the centrifical force of the RPMs. Thats good news. :grin: During this exercise a few other thing came to light that will help those of you that are financially strapped and not as performance minded as some are. The 4.3 liter drive pulley has the correct offset and require one less aluminum adapter than the Northstar drive pulley I use. The problems are: 1. It overdrives the accessories by 1.20%. This means slower. 2. One adapter less but the pulley will require machining to open the center hole to fit the Buick Harmonic balancer. 3. Offset adapters for the cylinder heads would be 5/8th in. thick rather than 3/4 in. as I have them setup now. This is not a big deal, everything else would remain the same. KIT UPDATE - I have decided that offering a template kit of the main adapter plates would be a better way to distribute the drawings mentioned in my previous thread. With templates those of you that are do-it-yourselfers would simply need to buy the metal plate and lay out your cuts from the template. Then locate and drill your holes directly from the template clamped to the metal. This eliminates all layout work, hole locating, etc. These templates would be made from a cheap modeling composite to keep the cost loooowwwww. The turning adapters present another problem for those of you who have no lathe experience. Templates mean nothing if you can't turn the metal to the required dimensions. Understood? See anything you like here???????? The photo below is not my car, it is my truck but I thought you might appreciate a clean stock Skylark convertible. Well, signing off for now. Weekender :Smarty:
Serpentine belt System Weekender, You have a P.M. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks! Mac
Without Air? Hieracy!! Hi HR84B! Great question! I asked the same thing of my local recycler because I have not seen the 4.3 Chevy w/o air. I have been thinking about it but believe it or not, unless I can find the right cylinder head idler pulley system to replace the A\c adapter, this could add price to the kit. The reason is that I would need to engineer an idler pulley adapter and find another 5 groove pulley with the bearing hub to replace the A\c pump. It wouldn't be much but it has to be engineered and made to look nice to boot. I will look into the factory setup first and let you know. Larry aka Weekender o No:
