Serpentine conversion opinions

[bigkountry]

I'm not wantng to know how or where or what to get for a serpentine conversion, I am looking for opinions based on experience/ownership.

What brand and setup do you guys that have done this swap perfer? Did you do the underdrive option when you ordered?

Gonna have a little left over this year after I buy my own compressor (finally) and was looking at them in the Summit catalog.

Thanks

[Dragon]

Personally I like every GM Car & Truck that came from the factory with it, as replacing the belt is only 5mins, and to change an Alternator is only 10-15mins, with no adjustments needed....  My Father used to have a '97 Lincoln and it was too much of a hassle to change and adjust, same with my wife's '97 Wrangler...  Both of those were pretty much a half day event, where as my Cars and old '89 was up & running in time for anything I had planned.....    I want to add a setup to my '77, but I can't see spending $500+ on a new one, when I can grab a good used one for less than half.....  Just trying to decide if I want to add a pair of Vortec Heads for what I save going the used route....

[VileZambonie]

If it's a DD I would use factory GM set up for convenice and cost effectiveness. If you're running something obscure March has a great set up. If it is a hot rod, stick with Vbelts.

[bigkountry]

Nothing obscure, just the 400 in my K10.

It won't be a DD, but will be driven often once finished. I was looking at the March setup, just looking for opinions on a good setup.

[eventhorizon66]

If it is a hot rod, stick with Vbelts.

Why's that?  Are serpentine belts more likely to jump?  Or do they rob more power?

[VileZambonie]

No, just most hot rods run an alternator and water pump and maybe power steering. To me it wouldn't be worth the added bracketry and extra weight for the expense. Like I said before unless it's something obscure like a supercharged system V-belts work just fine. Belts usually jump due to poor pulley alignment.

[bigkountry]

Thats the problem I am having sometimes (belt jumping). I figured a serpentine system would be less maintenence and prevent this.

I might just look into new brackets and pulleys instead of the serpentine.

[Dragon]

A serpentine setup will walk belts as well due to misalignment of the pulleys, but it is a bit more forgiving that a traditional V-belt setup....  Most cases a V-belt misalignment is due to the pulleys being bent, or some of the spacer shims weren't reinstalled after an engine tear down/rebuild(Really common to find on a vehicle that has had more than one owner)....

[bigkountry]

That may be the problem, I had the engine in pieces for over a year and in a haste I might have left the shims off when I was building it.

Guess I will find out when I rip it apart...lol

[69byrd]

I had a friend who done the serpentine conversion and he had alot of problems getting it spaced out right but once he got it right he has not had any problems. He used the march brackets. I have the v belt system on my truck and I have had no problems with it plus I like the look of the v belt better.

[bigkountry]

Thanks for all the info guys, guess I will look into the March v-belts instead of the serpentine.