Serpentine setup strong enough for racing?

[ERIC87442]

you really dont lose too much hp off of an alternator. i dont see the big deal with keeping it. and yes HEI needs more volts, i think its something around 13 ish i dont remember haha, theres a reason why cars now have serpentine belts instead of v belts, just like most have electric fans now instead of mechanical and so on and so on, and i think some have electric water pumps now too as well. if your looking for a little hp, keep the alternator, go with an electric water pump, run a short serpentine belt from the crank to the alt. and same with the power steering if you keep it, i would if your doing road racing. if you don't id get a manual steering gear box. it will turn a little easyer.

here is my old set up

 

[stomis]

Switch to a mid mount alt / power steering setup. It will drastically shorten your belts and you can get the brackets for like $100.

I plan on running v belts with the mid mounted alternator and power steering pump (stock location is mid mount I believe) and an electric water pump. Will be 2 very short v belts.

 

[tc1959]

I switched to a serp drive ,I would never go back to v-belts

 

[stomis]

I switched to a serp drive ,I would never go back to v-belts

Serpentine is definitely superior, but also expensive. Honestly I like my trucks setup. Its individual serpentine belts.

 

[Brick442]

Never had a problem with the Serpentine setup on my 383 . . . just make sure you use ALL of the factory braces (You will notice that they are not yet installed in this pic . . . one goes from the A/C comp to the second header bolt, another goes from the alt to the first driver side header bolt).

Like the ease of it.

On my Ford Lightning, the stock serpentine setup needed to be upgraded once I went with a smaller pulley on the supercharger as it was slipping.

 

[79loserbluebu]

You don't need to use all the braces, but it's recommended. I've put quite a few miles on my serpentine, and it still only has the one bolt in the passenger head. It's not safe for racing but if it's a cruiser then it should be fine. The brackets are aluminum though, so you will want to run the braces for the compressor side.

 

[tc1959]

Never had a problem with the Serpentine setup on my 383 . . . just make sure you use ALL of the factory braces (You will notice that they are not yet installed in this pic . . . one goes from the A/C comp to the second header bolt, another goes from the alt to the first driver side header bolt).

Like the ease of it.

On my Ford Lightning, the stock serpentine setup needed to be upgraded once I went with a smaller pulley on the supercharger as it was slipping.

That set up is so cool , Get yourself all the parts an hook up that new compressor . You will be happy with the AC working again.
Go for it most people just say F--K it and take the easy way And Just delete all of it. :wink:

 

[uneek1976]

I switched to a serpentine setup as well and I loved it. When I first got it all together I heard a rattle coming from the compressor so I thought the bearing was bad, swapped in a new one had the same rattle come to find out that I didnt have the bolt in the head tight enough and the rattle was gone.

 

[megaladon6]

what parts did you guys use for the A/C, since it's on the opposite side?

 

[tc1959]

what parts did you guys use for the A/C, since it's on the opposite side?

92 f-body hoses and liquid line,And condenser. 88 suburban accumulator.Then had combo hose shortened a a hose shop to fit.