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V groove vs Serpentine

1967coronet440

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Is there any advantage going to a serpentine type belt over a v groove set up, only turning water pump and alternator I might even switch to an electric WP so could only be alternator at some point. Am I good with a v groove or should I make a switch. Thanks
 
If you are satisfied with what you have, why spend the money unless you think it looks good enough to make the switch. The only reason I'm going with the serpentine setup on my 67 Satellite with a 5.7 Hemi is I'm adding A/C and didn't want to notch the stock K frame for the compressor. I realize the 5.7 is already a serpentine setup, but I'm changing compressor and alternator locations.
 
If you are satisfied with what you have, why spend the money unless you think it looks good enough to make the switch. The only reason I'm going with the serpentine setup on my 67 Satellite with a 5.7 Hemi is I'm adding A/C and didn't want to notch the stock K frame for the compressor. I realize the 5.7 is already a serpentine setup, but I'm changing compressor and alternator locations.
I haven’t even run the engine yet, I’m just trying to avoid any possible issues once I do get it in the car and running. Probaly over thinking it but I can’t stop the wheels in my head from turning once they get going lol.
 
They look neat and modern but at what cost? V-groove pulleys transmit the power from the sides of the belt.
Steel pulleys are used because they wear better than any other material. Serpentine belts transmit power
all the way across their inside surface. Aluminum can be used because of all of the surface area. A tensioner
is used to keep the belt at the perfect tension so no slippage occurs while the belt wears. I'm a Machinist,
and over the years I have made a lot of V-groove pulleys for electric motors, and also I have made some
Serpentine pulleys. The pitch on the Serpentine pulleys are critical, and tooling is sold with the correct pitch
so more than one groove can be cut at the same time. The thing that gets me is with C.N.C. equipment and
tooling that's available today, The vendors are making these kits for $30.00 in material and $60.00 in labor
and selling them on the market for $400.00-$600.00. Boy, I must be a cheapskate! Sorry, can't do that!
To answer you're question, Yeah, you're good with a V-Groove, But if you have the extra MooLa, and you want
the looks, Go for it.
 
I think the serpentine was developed to speed up the process of belt and accessory changes. I don't think one is better than the other in regards to operation but here again that's just my opinion. They look cool and all but I'm sure performance isn't effected one way or the other but on the other hand :fool:it could be that mental thing...like the car runs better after you just washed it :fool:
 
I have billet aluminum v grooves right now, they look awesome but will they perform with my 700hp stroker or am i better off with serpentine. I ditched the power steering so don’t mind the pump in this picture

A853E523-1855-49DF-82D9-27D162A221D6.jpeg
 
Serpentine belts sound cool with some revs. I have them on my cuda but not on the Cordoba. No plans on changing that.
 
From what I have read, the main reason car manufacturers went to serpentine pulleys was the ability to run multiple objects with one belt, which saved a bunch of space on the front of motors. Instead of stacking multiple belts in front of each other like on the old cars, they were able to run everything with one belt that was slightly wider than a typical v-belt.

Either will work. As others have said above, it really comes down to looks and what you want.
 
In my case the serpentine belt stays on better
probably because it has an idler pulley
keeping it from bouncing, especially over 6300rpm (to 7000)

In my experience far less slippage & no squeaks/squeals
with the serpentine belt too

my girls bought the dual 6 rib serpentine alum. crank reduction pulley
from Magnum Force Racing (March Industries) as a B-Day present,
my 50th some almost 10 years ago now, It's $100+
I only had to buy a 6 rib alum. serpentine alt. pulley
& 2 short serpentine belts
so it wasn't much if any more of an expense,
nothing like the pricey huge bulky kits,
with a mile long 'snake belt' & 2 or more idlers etc.
my Unisteer rack & pinion PS pump
came with a 6 rib serpentine pulley already

everything was a sort of 'custom fit', on my application
alt. bracket wise was stock style, top mount for a BBM
just chromed, but rest is easy stuff, like different spacers (chrome),
a couple longer bolts (chrome) etc.

& it looks pretty good, to me anyway
even more important the function is flawless

(I know you said you don't have a PS pump,
so you could do a single belt & crank pulley
with a regular routing like a v-belt would be
no fancy stuff or expensive kit needed
)

I have 2 separate belts,
one to the PS (Unisteer rack & pinion) with an idler,
it far more surface on the pulley never gonna' throw it
(easier to adjust & keeps it away from the water-pump)
& one is directly to the alt.,
with a dual crank pulley
neither goes over the water pump, it's electric

-------------------------------------------------------------

I think a good deep groove V-belt & an idler
would do an equally good job, marginally more slippage
probably not noticeable differences
( I had issues with throwing v-belts at higher RPM's, even with deep groove steel pulleys )

--------------------------------------------------------------

in my 68 RR

sorry the photos aren't very good,
I didn't take any photos of it with out the other stuff already mounted
it's a tight fit too, custom rad & shroud, Perma-cool 3500cfm 16" electric fan
35gpm elect. Proform water pump
& the idler etc.

this is the alt. belt & going down to the back slot of the crank pulley
68 RR #35 479ci electric water pump rad alt view ps.JPG


you can sort of see the idler set up, mounted off the water pump,
plate 7075 alum. .250", with a spacer & the idler pulley
to keep the PS pump belt away from the electric water pump, more belt/pulley contact too
my car is sort of a drag car in search of a corner, I wanted PS, where I live, in the sticks
68 RR #36 479ci Fuel reg. front to engine rad ps.JPG


68 RR #37 Power Steering Pump for Unisteer rack & pinion serpintine belt ds.JPG


good luck
 
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In my case the serpentine belt stays on better
probably because it has an idler pulley
keeping it from bouncing, especially over 6300rpm (to 7000)

In my experience far less slippage & no squeaks/squeals
with the serpentine belt too

my girls bought the dual 6 rib serpentine alum. crank reduction pulley
from Magnum Force Racing (March Industries) as a B-Day present,
my 50th some almost 10 years ago now, It's $100+
I only had to buy a 6 rib alum. serpentine alt. pulley
& 2 short serpentine belts
so it wasn't much if any more of an expense,
nothing like the pricey huge bulky kits,
with a mile long 'snake belt' & 2 or more idlers etc.
my Unisteer rack & pinion PS pump
came with a 6 rib serpentine pulley already

everything was a sort of 'custom fit', on my application
alt. bracket wise was stock style, top mount for a BBM
just chromed, but rest is easy stuff, like different spacers (chrome),
a couple longer bolts (chrome) etc.

& it looks pretty good, to me anyway
even more important the function is flawless

(I know you said you don't have a PS pump,
so you could do a single belt & crank pulley
with a regular routing like a v-belt would be
no fancy stuff or expensive kit needed
)

I have 2 separate belts,
one to the PS (Unisteer rack & pinion) with an idler,
it far more surface on the pulley never gonna' throw it
(easier to adjust & keeps it away from the water-pump)
& one is directly to the alt.,
with a dual crank pulley
neither goes over the water pump, it's electric

-------------------------------------------------------------

I think a good deep groove V-belt & an idler
would do an equally good job, marginally more slippage
probably not noticeable differences
( I had issues with throwing v-belts at higher RPM's, even with deep groove steel pulleys )

--------------------------------------------------------------

in my 68 RR

sorry the photos aren't very good,
I didn't take any photos of it with out the other stuff already mounted
it's a tight fit too, custom rad & shroud, Perma-cool 3500cfm 16" electric fan
35gpm elect. Proform water pump
& the idler etc.

this is the alt. belt & going down to the back slot of the crank pulley
View attachment 728453

you can sort of see the idler set up, mounted off the water pump,
plate 7075 alum. .250", with a spacer & the idler pulley
to keep the PS pump belt away from the electric water pump, more belt/pulley contact too
my car is sort of a drag car in search of a corner, I wanted PS, where I live, in the sticks
View attachment 728452

View attachment 728451

good luck
I was looking at the March pulleys, alternator and crank only and just route it like that, I don’t think I would need a idler, right? It’s up in the air I’m still working on the car and collecting parts so just something I’ve been thinking about.
 
Looking again I’m only seeing a double groove crank pulley, I would only need single groove of running just the alternator on it.
 
I was looking at the March pulleys, alternator and crank only and just route it like that, I don’t think I would need a idler, right? It’s up in the air I’m still working on the car and collecting parts so just something I’ve been thinking about.
"I'm pretty sure", they make single belt serpentine crank pulleys
I may be wrong...
& Yes you using the mechanical OE style water pump & pump pulley
going over that, I'd think it would work just fine, with no idler
just less contact surface area on all the pulleys
but IMO maybe (?) still more than a v-belt set up has

just make sure your belt alignment is spot on
you may have to do some custom spacers or longer bolts etc.
 
"I'm pretty sure", they make single belt serpentine crank pulleys
& yes you using the mechanical OE style water pump & pump pulley
going over that, I'd think it would work just fine, with no idler
just less contact surface area on all the pulleys
but maybe (?) still more than a v-belt has
just make sure your belt alignment is spot on
may have to do some custom spacers or longer bolts etc.
Thanks bud, I see the single belt one now lol. :fool:
 
In the picture, at about the 2 o’clock position that hole is oval. What’s up with that? My billet 440 source pulley has that also.

B3A307C2-2CCD-4329-9B0E-38AB24D76F4F.png
 
In the picture, at about the 2 o’clock position that hole is oval. What’s up with that? My billet 440 source pulley has that also.

View attachment 728480
I'd have to look "don't quote me"
but I think my March Ind. dual v-belt pulley
(I had before, the serpentine, I have a set of reduction/dual crank
& single "chrome" steel alt. & single alum. water-pump, still if anyone needs them,
for alum. crank & wp pulleys never ran, if interested PM contact me
)

had that oval-ed hole too


I think it's for some cranks have an offset bolt pattern
I can't remember which or why
but IIRC it make them more universal fit
 
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I think there is very little "advantage", especially in your case, turning only a WP and alternator. I'm running V belts with WP, Alternator and PS pump and have yet to have a problem.
 
With any of them, you need to consider the pulley ratios.
I don't like the underdrive pulley ratio option on a street car that slow down the alternator and waterpump.
I haven't looked at each component to see where the best RPM range is for each, but when I installed the Denso alternator, the pulley is about 1/2 the diameter of the crank pulley 2:1 ratio, so at 7,000 engine RPM I am at the upper RPM range of 14,000 RPM the alternator is rated for.
Another thing to consider is the belt angles at the pulleys which determines how much contact there is. With a V-Belt it is best to just drive only one accessory for each belt to get the maximum contact patch on the pulley (with out an idler pulley.) The factory way of running the alternator and water pump off the same belt, has the belt in about 1/3 contact with the alternator pulley, and about 1/4 contact with the water pump pulley. The alternator location also requires a longer belt to get that geometry.
A serpentine belt setup usually has the belt routed either by accessory location or using idler pulleys, to wrap around a good amount of the pulleys diameter.
Many of the original V-belt pulleys were designed for the narrower 11/32" V-Belts, and most that are at stores today are 3/8", so they ride high in the grove and are more likely to come off at high rpm. If you have pulleys that are for the 3/8" V-belts, they should be fine as long as they are aligned correctly. My Charger is using V-Belts with aftermarket pulleys, and I have had no problems and often hit 7,000 RPM. But I am only driving the alternator, water pump/fan, and power steering (2-grove crank pulley.)
If you are going to run A/C the factory 4-belt setup is a hassle, and it would likely be a better setup to go with the serpentine setup.
 
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