Crank Pulley and Power Steering

Day One - April 19, 2001

Began taking everything off to include the radiator, fan shroud, p/s pump, alternator, and pulleys and belts as soon as I got home from work. After a couple of hours it was ready to break out the new pieces and read the instructions. The kit I purchased is March number 23050 - Highwater Flow Kit Drives: Water Pump, Alt and Keyway Power Steering for a Chevy big block with long water pump.

The crank pulley was first since the power steering and alternator must line up with it. First problem - the bolts supplied to hold the pulley on were coarse thread. My Fluidamper brand balancer is drilled/tapped for fine thread bolts. No biggie, just reuse the old grade 8 bolts to hold the pulley on. Now I have 4 extra 5/16 coarse thread Allen-head bolts.

Power Steering was next since it seemed the easiest. Wrong answer. The instructions are very good at telling you how many of which washers to use where depending on small block or big block application. Didn't work for me. Even a test fit of the power steering pulley seemed way off from the crank pulley. May be the angle the engine sits front to rear or my eyes, who knows? I had two other people look at it and each had a different opinion on which way to adjust the pump.

Come time to bolt the adjustment bracket to the block through the water pump mounting holes and the supplied bolts were about 2 threads too long - they bottomed out.  Well, some washers will fix that. In fact, there will be many a trial/error of washer combinations to make the pulleys align. Instructions are pretty good about bolt sizes, this washer here, that washer there, and use Loctite. Don't use the Loctite until you're sure the pulleys are aligned, you have a belt that works, and you can set the correct tension. Right now I'm at the *relieving* tension stage.

Suggest doing a test fit of brackets on power steering pump first with no washers. Then bolt the pump and brackets to the adjusting bracket and check alignment. Washers will have to be used somewhere - believe me. The boss on the water pump is wider than the pump w/brackets attached. Without washers somewhere, the brackets will *pinch* the power steering pump.

If you're starting pretty much from scratch as I am, I ordered the *keyway* style pulley so it'll be easier than pressing the pulley on. The pump is a remanufactured unit for a 1974 Impala w/454. I think most Saginaw p/s pumps are the same as far as bolting on. This was recommended to me by a colleague who just performed the swap. Proper hoses are something I'll have to work out later. So, I know I need some more washers and I'm too lazy to clean up and run out tonight to find some...it's only Thursday anyway.

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