Lower Pulley "Nightmare" Install

[stangin]

Good gosh, what a nightmare. First I pulled the battery, moved the power steering to get to the alternator and change the alt pulley to a 3.5" for the 6lb lower going in. I hope I never have to replace the alternator is all I can say. I installed the Metco 3.5" pulley on the alt with the correct bushing that come with it, there are two, one pre Nov I believe and one for Cobra's built after Nov. Well after I finally got the stock alt pulley off and the new one installed then it would not spin.. at all. After removing the pulley and trying to figure out why I just pulled the alt out and found that the pulley came to rest against the alt collar where the pre Nov built bushing goes, it was the same size so it rested against both.. I wished I had taken a pic. I wound up masking the alt to keep metal filings out of it and gently grinding down the shoulder to expose the bushing that spins with the pulley. Got that done.. finally it spins with the pulley on, then tried again to break the lower center crank bolt loose. This bolt is reverse threaded so have to turn clockwise to loosen, I cant get it loose. I am not a small person and into weights, but all my strength I could not break it loose. Got out my long torque wrench and could not break it loose. Then I got out my 1/2 drive ratchet and my heavy steel tubing floor jack handle as a cheater bar and a large friend of mine and we both still could not break it loose. Gees, this thing is in there. I cant break it loose any suggestions, I have it up on a set of ramps, but probably need a big lift to be able to get about a 10' cheater bar and three peope to break it loose. I cant think of anything else to do but to have it towed down the street to a shop with a lift. I have never not been able to do something on a car, very fustrating. Even if I get it on a lift this will make the rear wheels free to spin, will have to have someone stand on the breaks or find a drive on lift. If anyone has any thoughts before I drag it to a shop please feel free.. sorry so long.

 

[redaddiction]

OK to break that thing lose i used a 3 ft cheater bar. Someone needs to sit inside and hold the brake's down and have the car in reverse. i Had the cheater bar sticking out of the top of the engine bay and had no problems at all doing this and I'm weak so try that

 

[stangin]

I had someone holding the brakes, I had thought about going through the top, but figured it would move too much.. not enough room, if I go with the 1/2 ratchet and the cheater that might work. I had the car in 3rd per Dana's post. I just cant believe it is this tight.. it is not necessary. By the way did you change your alternator pulley as well? Is it normal to have to file the shoulder down to eliminate the interference with the pulley?

 

[AMB]

This is the best reason to install the lower pulley on a 03 Cobra. If you ever have to replace the inner belt it is a PIB to remove the stock lower pulley assembly. Thats why I did mine.

AMB

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by AMB
This is the best reason to install the lower pulley on a 03 Cobra. If you ever have to replace the inner belt it is a PIB to remove the stock lower pulley assembly. Thats why I did mine.

AMB

I hear that! I kinda looked to see how bad the inner belt would be, too scared to look at it all the way. The inner belt and alternator replacement are probably the hardest things to get to on the Cobra, everything else doesnt look too bad.. maybe headers are equally as bad??

 

[2F2F]

Sure sounds like a nightmare install. I had problems with the 14mm crank bolt as well. Used a SCH 40 pipe over a 3/8" ratchet as a breaker bar. 10 grams of creatine and an hour later the crank cage was off. Hope you have not crossthreaded the crank cage threads. I had problems with the alternator spacer as well. Simply replaced the accompanying washer with a thicker one and torqued the bolt down to 100 ft-lb.

 

[2F2F]

Replacing the alternator hard? Not so. Simply remove the battery and battery tray and unbolt the the power steering pump reservoir. Disconnect the electrical connector and the battery positive cable from behind the generator and unbolt the upper and lower generator bolts. Wiggle the unit out from under the driver side fenderwell. Reverse procedure. Done!

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by ox03
Replacing the alternator hard? Not so. Simply remove the battery and battery tray and unbolt the the power steering pump reservoir. Disconnect the electrical connector and the battery positive cable from behind the generator and unbolt the upper and lower generator bolts. Wiggle the unit out from under the driver side fenderwell. Reverse procedure. Done!

Never thought of going through the fenderwell, I wiggled it out through the top. That was not easy, I will remember next time.
Wouldnt putting another washer make the pulley move forward an 1/8" to 1/4" on the alt? Would this throw off the belt alignment? I had thought of this as well, but I just wound up filing 1/4" off of the shoulder of the alternator, which I think was the original intention of the spacer, but interfered with the pulley as it was before the shave. Turned out really clean to do it that way. One other thing, when installing a washer on the alt shaft under the pulley, there is not enough room for the pulley to sit on large part of the shaft correctly, do you think your pulley is actually on the large diameter of the shaft? Just curious, I wished I had taken pics, would have helped explain. The "hand written" instructions of the 3.5" alt pulley leaves a whole lot to be desired. It does not even explain where the lock washer is supposed to be placed.

 

[dougwg]

Dana did a very good write up on a lower install...did you read it first...
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25861&highlight=lower+pulley+install

the 14mm is tight as he||

Just don't be afraid of it and crank on it!

After doing the first one... I think I could do it in about 3 hours now.

Now that it's done I'm sure you'll be more then happy with the performance!:beer:

 

[2F2F]

Originally posted by stangin
Wouldnt putting another washer make the pulley move forward an 1/8" to 1/4" on the alt?

More or less.

Would this throw off the belt alignment?

Not in my case. Belt alignment appears to be perfect.

...do you think your pulley is actually on the large diameter of the shaft?

Once the pulley bolt is torqued down, yes.

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by dougwg
Dana did a very good write up on a lower install...did you read it first...
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25861&highlight=lower+pulley+install

the 14mm is tight as he||

Just don't be afraid of it and crank on it!

After doing the first one... I think I could do it in about 3 hours now.

Now that it's done I'm sure you'll be more then happy with the performance!:beer:

I am not afraid of it.. or am I I threw everything I had at it, had to take a nap after trying for a while lol, I am getting old. I am going to go at it again tomorrow from the top, hopefully this will do it and give me more leveage and a longer cheater bar. Yes, I printed Dana's post, a big help. I did not see him mention the alternator shoulder issue though, I wonder if some of the alt housings are longer than others. Metco should put in the instructions that sometimes you have to file down the shoulder to expose the bushing by 1/4" so the alt pulley does not interfere with the alt housing.

 

[2F2F]

Originally posted by ox03
10 grams of creatine...

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by ox03

Yeah, I will probably need it

 

[Dana]

I didn't have a problem with the alternator pulley at the time because they didn't have them on the market yet. I was waiting for the production to start.
As far as swapping the pulley on it, I loosened the mtg bolts and rotated it so it pointed down and use a 1/2 inch impact gun on the nut.
As far as the crank bolt goes, it will come off. Just get a bigger bar and keep trying. Others have said reverse gear may work better for locking the motor.

Dana

 

[AMB]

I had no problem installing the 3.5" alternator pulley. I did not install the lockwasher, as there was not enough threads to install it. Did you install it on backwards? The deep side go to the foward.

AMB

 

[lRageATMl]

i used 6th gear to put my car in, it locked the motor nicely. I also had a 2 foot breaker bar with a 4 1/2 foot pipe on it. We had 3 people pushing down on the bar it it finally broke loose.

good luck, don;t give up...you are better then the crank bolt!!!

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by AMB
I had no problem installing the 3.5" alternator pulley. I did not install the lockwasher, as there was not enough threads to install it. Did you install it on backwards? The deep side go to the foward.

AMB

I installed the pulley the correct direction, that was clear in the instructions and I compared it to the stock pulley to be sure. The problem that I had was that the pulley bushing that came with the pulley and the alternator housing shoulder it rests in were exactly the same size/dimension so when the pulley was torqued down the pulley actually sat on the alternator housing shoulder/collar and the bushing together at the same time so the pulley was touching the alternator housing and would not move, in fact it left a mark on the pulley. I wished I had taken a pic. After I shaved down the alternator housing / shoulder around the alt shaft about 1/4" I could see the bushing exposed. Weird.. maybe some housings are longer than others, neither bushing was long enough and both had the same problem.

Wish me luck with the crank bolt, going out to work on it now.

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by AMB
I had no problem installing the 3.5" alternator pulley. I did not install the lockwasher, as there was not enough threads to install it. Did you install it on backwards? The deep side go to the foward.

AMB

I agree, no room for the lockwasher, no I installed it correctly.

 

[Ratt Fink]

My 3.5" alt pulley came with 2 bushings (only 1 worked). Dropped alt loose, turned it upward and used an impact, with battery and tray removed.
For the crank bolt, had car on ramps, in 4th gear with emergency brake on too. Laid down with feet on drivers side tire and used a 20" breaker bar, aiming fairly straight down and pulled it, kinda like doing 2-handed arm curls. It broke loose with a loud pow... you gotta want ta get it loose !! Use your legs.

 

[stangin]

Originally posted by Ratt Fink
My 3.5" alt pulley came with 2 bushings (only 1 worked). Dropped alt loose, turned it upward and used an impact, with battery and tray removed.
For the crank bolt, had car on ramps, in 4th gear with emergency brake on too. Laid down with feet on drivers side tire and used a 20" breaker bar, aiming fairly straight down and pulled it, kinda like doing 2-handed arm curls. It broke loose with a loud pow... you gotta want ta get it loose !! Use your legs.

Unfortunately both bushings were not long enough to clear the shoulder so the alternator had to come out so I could trim the shoulder of the alt housing to expose the bushing so the pulley did not interfere with the alt housing shoulder. Turned out really nice though.

I finally broke the crank bolt loose, had it in third gear, girl friend standing on the brakes and a four foot cheater bar on my breaker bar and came in from the top. My four foot steel cheater bar started to flex/bend.. just before it broke loose. Thanks for the help everyone!!!