No need to remove the fan in order to get the belt off the pulleys. Just put a 15 mm wrench with a cheater bar on the tensioner pulley bolt and rotate it clockwise. That removes the tension on the belt and you can slip it off the pulley.

 

anyone happen to know what the nut size is for fastening that braided line tite to the fire wall again?

will make a trip to home depot for the right size nut.

 

While that's true it opens up more space to work in and makes reinstalling the belt easier. For those experienced with the easy on/off fan techniques it will likely add under 5 minutes to job.
......
Per the nut thread size? 10mm socket fits mine.
......

 

New Ebay alternator on, things worked great on the test run to the lake. Although I did mess up the small wire going to the alternator. Tighten the nut down and bent the metal connector thingy that holds the nut in place. hopefully it stays. Kinda a pain working around the radiator hoses and the fan, but like others said, just work with everything still on and was able to get the belt off too with the fan in place.