I decided that the aftermarket serpentine systems was out of my league...and maybe a matter of opinion....way overpriced, since it has gone up by hundreds of dollars since they first came out.
It was suggested to me to look into a Chevy Truck 454 serpentine system for my 396 big block. I found the local dealer had the brackets in stock and I got them for a discount since they had been on the shelf for a while. Picked up the crank pulley and power steering pulley as well. Had to go with an aftermarket water pump pulley to get a grooved one. See below on why. These mounting brackets do NOT look near as pretty as the aftermarket aluminum systems. However, it did two other things for me that I wanted as well: #1, It allowed me to put my alternator on the driver's side to mount the A/C compressor on the passenger side and shorten the lines and neaten up the look of A/C compressor mounting. #2 I had read that when you turn a water pump backwards that you lose about 20% cooling efficiency. Having a big block with A/C and knowing I would be in long lines on hot days.... cooling was priority #1 !!! But..I still wanted to go serpentine. OK, I'm hard headed...here's where the Scandinavian part comes in ;) The steel brackets allowed me to weld on a mount to put on an idler wheel on the driver's side of the water pump pulley. This allowed me to double back the belt, after going over the crank pulley and water pump pulley, to go to the A/C compressor. I have a link to a picture of the system as I was putting it together. It gives the best view of the pulley and water pump. I'll post another pic of the final product. http://home.earthlink.net/~csmartin33/images/engine%20drivers%20side.jpg Steve
