<VV> belt problem

[Larry Forman]

At 07:01 PM 3/18/2005 -0500, GYoungwolf at aol.com wrote:
>I've got a call yesterday about a car which throws a belt a minute. It's a
>'65 140 (with the secondary carb ports blocked off), but the engine has a 
>solid
>crank pulley. The belt guards are in place. The owner has tried most all 
>types
>of belts. I'm trying to help troubleshoot over the phone, so I'm not able to
>watch it. The owner says everything appears to be aligned okay. Any
>suggestions? Would the spring loaded pulley solve this?
>Thanks,
>The Carbmeister

Hi Grant,
Here are my favorite stops to fan belt throwing.  Most have been covered in 
your replies:

1. I use only a Gates 3VX560 belt.  Right size in length and sits very low 
in the pulley grooves.  I have had several friends who only changed to this 
belt and it solved their belt throwing problems.  Obtain from an industrial 
supplier and you might get these for reasonable prices in small volumes.
2. Make DARN sure the steel pulleys have no rust to catch and throw the 
belts.  I take a wood stick VERY CAREFULLY when idling and "polish" to 
remove the rust.  Take extreme safety precautions when doing something like 
that.  Safety glasses, gloves, etc.
3. Ensure the belt aligns properly as it leaves and meets the harmonic 
dampener.  Using the right length belt is one way to ensure that.  Also the 
height of the fan pulley needs to be correct.  The higher it is, within 
reason, the better the cooling.  Just make sure it doesn't contact the fan 
top cover.
4. Good and lubed pulley bearings are required.  Check spin-down without a 
belt in place.  If you lube yourself, it is VERY easy to blow out the 
bottom seal by over-lubing.  Lube until you feel some restriction, test 
spin the bearing, when it runs slowly or with lube resistance, then 
stop.  Do NOT continue to fill more.  I ONCE lubed, spun until loose, 
re-lubed and repeated until the bottom seal blew out.  Not recommended to 
overlube.

-- Larry