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Interested in seeing how it works out as well. Think the stock belt length will be fine?
I am hoping that with only a 10% decrease in diameter the tensioner will be able to take up the extra slack, but we will have to see. Finding an inch smaller belt would not be a problem though.
Originally Posted by Extinct
Great job, was thinking along the same lines. Not sure I would trust a PLA printed pulley, maybe a jet fusion printed pulley but that woudl probably be 200ish. I was thinking 40% increase ish also to solve the idle issue. One characteristic of a centrifugal pumps is if you limit the output iwth a restriction like say a radiator, they don't pull more hp even though they are spinning faster. The bearings will wear out faster, but I think we are all willing to accept that. The other issue is if the fan can handle it, but again that is solvable with an electric fan setup. Getting a CNC pulley at an affordable price point would be the ultimate, I think I have a quote somewhere.
Utlimately given the choice between spending $200 on a pulley and $200 on a larger radiator I think the radiator might be the better investment.
I would not run a PLA printed pulley for long at all, just as a test fit. There is not a lot of room around the bolt holes and I wouldn’t trust it. I would consider maybe 3D printed nylon, but that is pricey. With only a 10% decrease in size, the fan would only be spinning slightly faster. I think it would be fine.
I have a CNC source that can probably get these out of aluminum for around $100 each if I ordered multiples at a time.
Here are some pics of the overdrive water pump pulley on an engine. It looks good - the belt is lined up and tight. The tensioner seems to have taken up all the slack. The only issue is the alternator bracket bolt which is touching the belt at one point. This bolt will need to be either cut / ground down a little bit to give the belt clearance or just replaced with a different bolt.
I have another pulley coming that will be made from Nylon. It should be able to survive the engine heat and mechanical pressures, so it should be a good candidate for a test run.
Could that empty hole in the alternator bracket work to install a smaller pulley to move it away from that bolt? Not sure if that hole is threaded or used off the top of my head, but maybe something to consider. Maybe a 30-50mm pulley could work out right there
it's threaded. It holds the bracket for the coolant elbow. It has 3 bolts on the manifold and then the one in question to the alternator mount. I don't remember the size but it's probably a M6 or M8.
Could that empty hole in the alternator bracket work to install a smaller pulley to move it away from that bolt? Not sure if that hole is threaded or used off the top of my head, but maybe something to consider. Maybe a 30-50mm pulley could work out right there
Originally Posted by whowa004
it's threaded. It holds the bracket for the coolant elbow. It has 3 bolts on the manifold and then the one in question to the alternator mount. I don't remember the size but it's probably a M6 or M8.
My current plan is to replace that current alternator bolt with a low profile allen/hex bolt. If that doesn't work then a little pulley would be a good solution either on that bolt or the alternator bolt.
Glad to see progress being made. Can't wait to see some test results. Have you found a low profile/button head bolt that'll provide clearance for the belt yet?
