A friend of mine took my car to a show and when he got back he said that it didn't sound quite right. I heard the problem from behind the radiator and found it to be the infamous lower SC caged pulley. From the pic, you can see the rubber was missing entirely. You can also see it went a few miles without any bushing material.
After calling Tousley to find out that this thing was $600 and I didn't want a Metco kit yet, I decided to try something. I ordered some Black Polyurethane Tubing, 1-1/4" OD, 1/2" ID, 6" Long, 60a Durometer, from McMaster Carr.com P/N: 87235K122 for $14. Harder material may work, but this is like tire tread rubber, so it worked pretty well.
I cut it to 7/8" long and rounded one end a little more than the other.
Now, here's where the project could be made much easier if the cage comes apart. I didn't even try, but if it does, this will be a snap to do. I will investigate more to find out if it does.... 6-26-11 update: the triangle cage does spin off and come apart, wish I would have done that instead.
I took the die grinder with a burr, opened up and deburred the back side of the pulley so the urethane would press in easier. If the cage comes apart, the urethane can just be pressed in from the other side of the pulley and put back together.
I used a vise and a socket to press the urethane in after spraying everything down with alcohol so it slipped together easier. Alcohol works good because it dries away and has a tendency to make the two parts stay or stick together better after it's dry.
I have 500 miles on the car and upon close inspection, the urethane hasn't moved at all.
I have some material left, so if anyone would like to ship me their pulley both ways, I will fix it for you if you don't want to tackle this fix.
After calling Tousley to find out that this thing was $600 and I didn't want a Metco kit yet, I decided to try something. I ordered some Black Polyurethane Tubing, 1-1/4" OD, 1/2" ID, 6" Long, 60a Durometer, from McMaster Carr.com P/N: 87235K122 for $14. Harder material may work, but this is like tire tread rubber, so it worked pretty well.
I cut it to 7/8" long and rounded one end a little more than the other.
Now, here's where the project could be made much easier if the cage comes apart. I didn't even try, but if it does, this will be a snap to do. I will investigate more to find out if it does.... 6-26-11 update: the triangle cage does spin off and come apart, wish I would have done that instead.
I took the die grinder with a burr, opened up and deburred the back side of the pulley so the urethane would press in easier. If the cage comes apart, the urethane can just be pressed in from the other side of the pulley and put back together.
I used a vise and a socket to press the urethane in after spraying everything down with alcohol so it slipped together easier. Alcohol works good because it dries away and has a tendency to make the two parts stay or stick together better after it's dry.
I have 500 miles on the car and upon close inspection, the urethane hasn't moved at all.
I have some material left, so if anyone would like to ship me their pulley both ways, I will fix it for you if you don't want to tackle this fix.
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