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6/9/19: Now that we got her home, I want to fix some of the butchery previous owners had incurred. I’d like to change out the long shaft 235 water pump to a original 216 pump with a relocation adaptor plate. I’m trying to find out what harmonic balancer was installed so today I took measurements, and then snapped a picture. Ugh! It looks like the wrecking crew installed this one. It appears that it is not fully seated and was installed with a BFH and a “Git ‘er Dun” attitude as evidenced by the hammer marks on the hub and rivets. In addition it appears that the cast iron balancer is cracked thru, maybe a slip of that BFH. I just got her insured and was looking forward to putting her on the road. I can’t imagine the damage that might occur if that cast iron balancer came apart while driving. This repair just made my top of the must do list.

The whole fan belt setup on this truck is screwed up. It started when they installed the 235. Butchering the radiator support, the hood latch panel and the lower splash pan to move the radiator forward for clearance. They further complicated the issues when they added the alternator. They mounted the alternator with a threaded rod and nuts without a sleeve so it bent under the strain. In addition to the flimsy mount, the adjustment arm was too short so they extended it by adding two stacked thin pieces of flat stock, another short slotted bar and a couple of bolts and nuts (four pieces total to make one). How resourceful! The alignment of the pulleys was so poor I don’t know how the belt stayed on. I’m not even sure if the belt size is correct as it rode down into the pulley and measures 7/16”.

I had planned to straighten out this mess but I thought I had a little more time. I plan on buying the alternator conversion brackets which will address the alternator mounting issues. Also a new water pump with 5/8” pulley, a 216 fan, a new alternator pulley and finally a 5/8” V-Belt. Time to hit the ole “Inter-Web”, a term I robbed from Richard Rollins from the show Gas Monkey Garage.