Source for red fan belt

[ronn]

you could have the belts outsourced in another country- however I doubt the demand would be there. A minimum run would be perhaps 1000 pieces.
As other countries wages rise, the less they want to do, pertaining to low priced items or volume. Just like here.

 

[ronn]

an older discussion on AACA
Red Fan Belts and Red Radiator Hoses
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34LaSalleClubSedan
By 34LaSalleClubSedan
February 15, 2020 in General Discussion

 

[DavidG]

Not to throw the proverbial t... in the punch bowl, but why red when there's overwhelming evidence that at least the Firestone belts were brown? As I am sure most of you know, in 1932 Ford changed all of the part numbers of A parts carried over into the B engine with a B part number prefix. So, A-8620 became B-8620 in the late version of the 1932 chassis parts catalog and all those that followed. Same belt, same function, and a new part number prefix.

Having been in the hobby since the 1950s, I've had the good fortune to be able acquire parts that have long since become extremely scarce, with fan belts being a good example. So far, nearly all of my '32 four and V8 restorations are equipped with Firestone fan belts with molded-in part numbers and the unique Firestone trademark "F" and all of them are brown, not red. (There were red fan belts in the period, but seemingly not those made by Firestone.)

While color photos in Ford's archives before 1939 are rare, one exception of a 1932 V8 display chassis is further evidence of the fan belts (at least those produced by Firestone) being brown in color.

I claim no expertise when it comes to Model As, but common sense suggests it unlikely that the color of the Firestone fan belts was changed at Job#1 for the 1932 models.

 

[rotorwrench]

They are sort of a red oxide color that is a lot like the old lacquer primer that was common for so long. It looks more brown than red. I've seen some rubber belts that look more of a red color but they were on other equipment and different makes of cars. Red rubber hoses were a lot more common.

Gates sort of invented the reinforce rubber belts after the leather belts reached their limitations for power transfer. They evolved quite a bit over the last 100+ years.

 

[Bullrhider]

Wow! Those look great! Would you do a batch of a dozen? I'll send you the belts!

 

[Model "A" Fords]

But therein lies the problem. From my vantage point I really am not doing it the right way. The right way would be to have Gates (-or someone) make the entire belt using the correct color material. What I am doing is only a temporary way, and as soon as the paint wears off, Snyders (-or whomever) is likely going to field complaints about how the color didn't last as long as they expected it to.

Brent, right way or not, your belts do look great! They show correct for fine point judging and continue to look the part for quite along time after.
I appreciate your view on what is right and thankyou for being upfront about the long term consequences!

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Not to throw the proverbial t... in the punch bowl, but why red when there's overwhelming evidence that at least the Firestone belts were brown? As I am sure most of you know, in 1932 Ford changed all of the part numbers of A parts carried over into the B engine with a B part number prefix. So, A-8620 became B-8620 in the late version of the 1932 chassis parts catalog and all those that followed. Same belt, same function, and a new part number prefix.

Having been in the hobby since the 1950s, I've had the good fortune to be able acquire parts that have long since become extremely scarce, with fan belts being a good example. So far, nearly all of my '32 four and V8 restorations are equipped with Firestone fan belts with molded-in part numbers and the unique Firestone trademark "F" and all of them are brown, not red. (There were red fan belts in the period, but seemingly not those made by Firestone.)

While color photos in Ford's archives before 1939 are rare, one exception of a 1932 V8 display chassis is further evidence of the fan belts (at least those produced by Firestone) being brown in color.

I claim no expertise when it comes to Model As, but common sense suggests it unlikely that the color of the Firestone fan belts was changed at Job#1 for the 1932 models.

David, everything you are saying is very true. Thank you for pointing that out. The belts were originally a reddish Brown as you are indicating, -OR they were Black. The biggest giveaway for an original belt vs a new reproduction belt for me (-besides color) is the texture of the cloth wrapping. Below are pix of a couple of original Model-A belts that confirm what you are saying about the Brown belt.

As for why we do it in more of a reddish side of the reddish Brown, it is to more closely match the color of reproduction red hoses that are available. Again, we are not trying to pass a reproduction fan belt off as an original one, -and to your point, restorers can dye their belts to whatever shade they feel is appropriate.

.

 

[Model "A" Fords]

Does anyone have a spare original model A fan belt that they would sell?

email bob@hamiltonprecision.ca