1983 Delta 88 307 cu
A couple of months ago the bearings in the ac compressor went. My ac wasn't working anyways (not holding R12) so i just took the belt off. The AIR pump doesn't have an adjustable pulley so i couldn't get a shorter belt and keep it operating. Of course there was a noticeable squeal after eliminating the belt, now there's only one belt to the crank. The belts were old so I replaced the two that remained (alt. and p/s). This pretty much got rid of the squeal. Only time I hear a slight squeal is in the morning when i first start it and i give it gas. Other than that there is no squeal when driving, even under heavy load. My question is: because both accessories are on the driver side of the engine, will the water pump wear out due to constant strain from one direction?? Is that where the squeal comes from or is it the fact that there is now only one belt around the crank pulley? Any finally, is there any way to run the AIR pump without the ac pulley there?

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about the WP "wearing" out like that.

As for the AIR/AC pulley, you are now talking about a "custom" item so to speak. The best this I can suggest is to take an old belt, cut it, wrap it around the pulleys you want to run it around, and mark the point with a good marker and measure.

Then go down to the auto parts store with said measurement and buy a new belt.

Also, the belts squealed like that on my Delta 350 build, found out that the reason for it was I had one belt going around the crank, WP, Alt, and touching the PS pulley, and another belt just on the PS pulley and water pump. Turns out the one belt was turning as a different speed than the other, causing it to squeal. It didn't make any noise after the car was warmed up though

 

The easiest way to eliminate the squeal is by putting another ac compressor in it.

After that, the options plateau into what best fits your skills/budget.
You can fab up a bracket for an ac delete pulley, instead of using a compressor as well.

I personally just took all the 307 brackets, pulleys, and power steering pump off, and replaced everything with 455 brackets. No ac now and no air pump. Works good for me.

 

You need to have tension on both sides of the water pump. Being one sided affects the pulley geometry just enough to cause constant squeals and can cause premature water pump bushing failure if the alt and PS are very tight. I try to run them as 'loose' as I can without them squealing on startup (alt load) and turns while stopped (PS load).
Also make sure you have quality belts. Worn or bad quality ones can cause squeals also.

 

But...

How does that work on cars with no PS and no A/C? These don't squeal.

The whole one-sided pull on the water pump is a fallacy. Unless you have a belt pulling upward, there is ALWAYS a side-load on the water pump, it's simply in a different direction depending on the number of belts. Draw the free-body diagram and see for yourself.

As for the notorious 307 belt squeal problem, I find this is always due to incorrectly setting the PS pump belt tension. I specifically ran my VIN Y 307 with the A/C belt removed (and the PS pump correctly tensioned) and could not make it squeal.

 

I agree Joe. I think a lot of the squeal came from the belts not being tensioned properly and just the age of the belts. I have pretty much eliminated the squeal with new belts properly tensioned. THe only time I hear a slight chirp is immediately after a cold start. and only if i rev the engine an instant after it starts up. After that it seems to be fine. I think if the ALT belt went around the crank and not just the water pump, any threat of a squeal would be eliminated totally