Water pump swap info needed. Change from reverse rotation to clock wise rotation.

[Littlecharlot]

Really? Never would have thought. Our local FLAPS insists on knowing the application for the belt rather than selling one the correct length for an "off the books" use.

Maybe I'll just measure up the length that I need and make them keep dragging belts from out back until they relent.

Are all six groove belts the same width, depth and such? I know nothing at all about serpentine belts . . .

Thanks—

[KevinVarnes]

Just figure out the part number for the belt that you need, find it on their website and take that into the store. You can decode the belt style and length from the part number. Each manufacturer has their own little system, but they are all pretty similar. You can wrap a piece of string or tape measure around the pulleys to get a ballpark idea on the belt length you need.

[mrriggs]

I just purchased a new clockwise water pump and pulley a couple weeks ago. I went with the Crown Vic water pump. The parts store may try to sell you the wrong one, but you can take your timing cover in and match up the bolt pattern. Some extensive research and I found "Auto Specialties Underdrive Water Pump Pulleys 820021" at Summit for around $52. It has 2 different bolt patterns, one of which will fit the water pump.

Did you use the 820021 water pump pulley with a stock Mustang-style crank pulley?

I tried my Crown Vic water pump pulley and it's not even close to fitting. It doesn't sit back far enough to line up with the other pulleys. Even if it did line up, it still wouldn't fit because it is too big around and hits the crank pulley.

[mrriggs]

The (grooved) Crown Vic water pump pulley I have is D9OE-8509-B7B. It's 6-1/8" diameter and 1-3/4" tall. I can't find my notes where I wrote down the part number for the matching crank pulley but it was smaller (factory underdrive pulleys).

For comparison the (smooth) Mustang-style water pump pulley is 5.5" diameter and 2" tall. The crank pulley is 6-1/8" diameter and 2-1/2" tall.

I went to the Pick-N-Pull today to try and find the crank pulley that matches my Crown Vic water pump pulley. What I found instead was yet a different standard rotation pulley set off an '89 Lincoln. The water pump pulley is E0VE-8509-A7A and is 5-3/4" diameter and 1-3/4" tall. The crank pulley is E0ME-6312-C7A. It's a dual sepentine pulley but it looks like the rear pulley could be cut off. The front pulley is 7-1/4" diameter and 2-3/4" tall. It overdrives the water pump compared to the Mustang setup.

I don't really want to underdrive or overdrive it. It always worked well the way it was. So my options now are to use the smaller Lincoln water pump pulley with the Mustang crank pulley (requires 1/4" spacer behind crank pulley), or use the big Crown Vic water pump pulley with the Lincoln crank pulley. Both of these options also require the alternator bracket to be spaced out from the head 1/4" but that's pretty simple.

When I tried matching up the Crown Vic water pump pulley to the Mustang crank pulley before, the motor still had the reverse rotation pump on it. I put the standard rotation pump on it and now there is tons of room between the pulleys. The water pump shaft sits higher on the standard rotation pump (farther from the crank shaft) than it does on the reverse rotation pump. Not sure if all standard rotation pumps are this way. When I bought the pump, I told them it was for an '80 Fairmont with a 255.

[mrriggs]

Had a productive evening. Decided to go with the largest pulleys so there would be more surface area for the belt.

Got the rear pulley cut off the Lincoln crank pulley.



Didn't get a picture of it before the modification. The rear pulley looked just like the front one, only larger. They were "cupped" and spot welded at the flange. I cut it off all the way to the flange, leaving just a plate. Because the backside was covered by the rear pulley, it was unpainted and had a bit of surface rust. I gave it a quick wipe down and shot it with semi-gloss black.

Made some 1/4" spacers for the back of the alternator bracket and dug up some longer bolts.



Everything test fit together.



I cut an old belt to the proper length and stapled it together. That should take the guess work out of buying a new belt. I tried a larger idler pulley to give a bit more wrap-around, but the idler would hit the water pump pulley when the tensioner was articulated. This idler pulley (Gates 38005) just kisses the water pump pulley, but allows full travel of the tensioner.

List of parts;
1980 Fairmont 255 water pump
198? Crown Vic water pump pulley, D9OE-8509-B7B
1989 Lincoln crank pulley, E0ME-6312-C7A
1984 Mustang alternator bracket, E0ZE-10156-BA, spaced 1/4" from head
82mm Gates idler pulley, 38005
Gates Belt, K060492

[mrriggs]

Stopped at the parts store and got the belt. I'm fortunate to have a real parts store close to my house. Walked in, handed the stapled belt to the old guy behind the counter, he walks into the back and comes out with an exact match in his hand (Gates K060492). Slapped it on when I got home, fits perfect.

[mrriggs]

Got the car all back together and fired it up. The belt was turning sharply leading into the water pump pulley. It turns out that the alternator pulley was too far back. The idler was centered on the belt so the spacers behind the alternator bracket are right. I suspect that it is just the wrong pulley on the alternator. When I bought the alternator, they didn't have one with a serpentine pulley so they slapped on a pulley that they had laying around. I found an 1/8" spacer in the junk box and installed it under the alternator pulley. The belt is running true over all the pulleys now.

[Mikestang]

This is how I did mine, I just made a bracket.