I just replaced the water pump on my 67 standard, which was originally a 289 with AC. At some point the 289 was replaced with a 302, but I think it retains the 289 setup. The AC compressor and brackets were all removed at some point before I acquired the car.
I’ll admit, I hadn’t paid much attention to the belts before this as I had some much bigger projects to tackle.
When I took the pulley off the water pump I found that the previous owner had used RTV to glue in a variety of washers to shim out the pulley. Without spacers, the water pump - power steering belt rubs across the lower alternator bracket. I cleaned out the gunk and washers and bought some spacers, but the belt still barely clears the bracket.
The same belt also has an issue with a bolt head on the power steering bracket. It looks like someone actually ground it off to create enough clearance, so I’m not sure how to even get that bolt out should I ever need to.
I ran into something similar on the 351 when Dad mis-matched bits from a 74 with a couple of 69s we had. The end result was the 4 bolt balancer used a whole different spacing than the three bolt. I can’t find confirmation of that change in the 302, but I suspect that is the same issue you’re seeing. If the 302 is from a 70 or later the crank pulley is likely a 4 bolt and spaced out differently for the water pump than the earlier ones. It looks like you even have 4 sheaves on that crank pulley which is what mine had and no amount of swapping pulleys around would get them to line up for me. Eventually I ordered a 351 specific kit from CVF racing and that got everything to line up properly. Hopefully your fix is simpler, but it sounds eerily similar.
According to the numbers on the block, this 302 is from a 1974 Maverick. I think you just solved the riddle because I never had any issues like this on my 66 289.
The alt and P/S belts run through the crank pulley and water pump pulley on my 68 302 with A/C. The A/C belt runs around the crank then through the A/C idler pulley before going to the A/C compressor (67 289 with A/C may be slightly different).
Here is a picture while I took it apart to restore and detail.
Thanks for posting this. After seeing this I also realize someone put makeshift spacers on my power steering bracket to move it inward. I’ll have to track down the correct bolts to move that back into the right place.
If you look at your brackets for the p/s there are spacers between the brackets themselves. Looking at Dave’s picture the brackets come together flush. If you remove those spacers that will move the pump forward and get the belt away from the bolt head properly.
That will also move the belt forward one sheave and require you to move the alternator back to where it is supposed to be. A double sheave (at least) water pump pulley is probably in order as well.
When I did the truck (it’s a 69 Cougar motor so it’s relevant right?) I ended up getting the kit with both pulleys in and got the 3 sheave water pump pulley at their recommendation. The belt doesn’t really contact the water pump enough to drive it or anything when tensioned but they recommended it to help guide things and keep them from slapping together in the event something goes awry.
I verified that it was indeed a 4-bolt crank, and I pulled the spacer out of the power steering bracket to see if anything would line up with it in the correct space, but no luck.
I also found this nut welded onto a bracket bolted to the block behind the power steering bracket. Is that correct or do I need to order some sort of piece to replace that to put this all back together correctly?
Looks like I’m going to need both the crank and water pump pulleys from CVF as well as the AC and idler pulley brackets. This issue is definitely hard on the budget.
While I have the crank pulleys off is there any reason to replace the harmonic balancer or are those generally good forever? I do have an issue with my timing marks not showing up anywhere near the pointer, but I’m thinking it’s probably easier use timing tape to remark it than to swap it.
Looks like I’m going to need both the crank and water pump pulleys from CVF as well as the AC and idler pulley brackets. This issue is definitely hard on the budget.
Exactly the issues I ran into with the truck. Swapping to an older style balancer and pulleys would also get everything lined up, but I was not convinced I could put the right combination together. Maybe someone here has a set that they know works together that would work for you.
While I have the crank pulleys off is there any reason to replace the harmonic balancer or are those generally good forever? I do have an issue with my timing marks not showing up anywhere near the pointer, but I’m thinking it’s probably easier use timing tape to remark it than to swap it.
They do of course wear/age as the rubber gets old and more brittle. The ring can slip causing the timing marks to not line up as you described, however I’ll bet you have the newer balancer with the older pointer location thus giving you no marks where you expect them.
I’m curious about the alternator here too, it looks pretty far forward. Is it bolted in front of its brackets instead of behind them ?
Once you get the right crank pulley on you’ll be amazed at how well things suddenly line up.
The alternator is behind the bracket and bolts up with what I assume is the original spacer behind it.
However, now I’m kind of worried as to whether or not any of the brackets are correct. I’ll have to see what numbers are stamped on them.
I guess the foolproof solution is to order the pulley and bracket kit from CVF, and just replace it all with their system, but at that point I can probably find a 289 around to swap back in for around the same price.
You don’t need brand new, see if someone has a set they are willing to sell you. Are you putting the A/C back in with the stock system? If so, then you will want to get all of it for that application.
