Johnny HR

need 3-groove crank and water pump pulleys for 303. seem tough to find. Anybody?

redoldsman

It is actually a 4 groove pulley set since the old A5 AC compressor had 2 belts on it. Unfortunately they are going to be hard to find and expensive. If you see a set for close to $300 for the two, jump on it. The crank pulley is actually the entire harmonic balancer since there is no bolt on pulley. I have a set for my 54 and I paid a little less than $300 but a friend did me a favor. I think you will need to look for 53 or up since 53 was the first year AC was offered. Good luck.

Johnny HR

ouch.. thanks for the info...

oldave55

I bought one from the "Damper Doctor" in Calif on ebay a couple of years ago for around $350 + shipping (without a return core) Damper Doctor advertises in several of the hobby mag's.

redoldsman

oldave55:

Did you get the water pump pulley too or was that just for the damper?

oldave55

No, I didn't get the water pump pulley at D.D. However, they do rebuild and correctly repaint the dampers they sell. So maybe the cost isn't that high after all.

www.damperdoctor.com 888-834-2137, 1055 Parkview Ave., Redding, CA 96001

In my experience with '55 and '56 Olds crank pulleys (integral with harmonic ballancer and come in single, 2 and 3-belt configurations.) Waterpump pulleys (approx 8" diameter and come in single and 2-belt configurations. The single and 2-belt wp pulleys are stacked for 3-belt configurations. As far as I know the 3-belt crank ballancer came only on factory air cars. Also, there may be some difference in the belt-pulley configuration if a factory air car did not have power steering. But I doubt that such a car was produced.

The single belt crank and waterpump pulleys: Standard for all models without power steering or factory A/C (drives waterpump and single belt generator, tensioned by generator.)

2-belt crank and wp pulleys: Rear belt drives wp & gen same as single belt configuration. Second belt located forward of standard belt and is required for addition of Power Steering pump (drives wp and ps pump and is tensioned by ps pump)

3-belt crank and wp pulleys: Rear belt drives wp and ps pump and is tensioned by ps pump. Front two belts drive wp, 2-belt generator and 2-belt A/C compressor (tensioned by 2-belt generator)

I don't have any verifiable information on after-market A/C compressor belt arrangements.

I hope this may help if your car didn't come with a go-by.

Johnny HR

Thanks for that... I thought about the wp pulleys since the 2 groove set up is two separate pulleys..there is somebody out there manufacting aftermarket crank pulleys but $400 for the one pulley is kinda steep. So.. if you stack the WP pulleys (a single and a double set) would you just use spacers to make em nest?

Johnny HR

also.. if the two belts run both the compressor and alternator..wouldn't one belt be sufficient these days?

oldave55

I was not aware that a damper-pulley reproduction was available. Stacking the wp pulleys that I have from a '55 parts car and the ones that came with my '56 do not require any spacers. R/E using one belt for air comp, etc....Installing a modern A/C comp, alternator (not a gen) using one belt would probably be reliable enough. Maybe some of our CO guys out there that have done this will share some of their experience with us.

Tedd Thompson

In the hot rod world I have see a generator power steering combo used to free up one belt and pulley so an aftermarket A/C could be added. I think the 55 chevy guys developed this system and I ran into it on a ad not to long ago. I don't know how original you want or need to be but that is an option.....Tedd