Fan Belt vs Motor Mount

[Bullrhider]

Changed the fanbelt on my '30 today. Got the old one off with no trouble but could not get the new one on to the crank pulley. (I checked - the belts were the same thickness...) It was hanging up on something directly below the pulley. Tried lifting the motor a smidge with a floor jack - no good. The problem was the "foot" of the front motor mount (since the mount is attached to the motor, moving the motor didn't help -- duh!). I finally had to remove the two front motor mount bolts, jack the motor up about 1/16", and the belt popped on with no problem. I have changed other belts so I know it isn't supposed to work this way. My conclusion is the the motor mount is probably an aftermarket item that is just a bit too short. Has anyone else ever run into this problem? I thought about shimming the motor up a touch from the mount but then the bolt holes wouldn't line up. And with all the weight and torque on that mount, I figured it wasn't a good idea? Has anyone replaced the front motor mount without removing the motor from the vehicle?
Thanks for your input!

 

[old ugly]

the answer to you question is no i have not had this issue.
But
if it is hitting on the foot of the engine mount, jacking or lifting the engine will only work if you take out the bolts that hold the mount to the front cover. because if not you are lifting the mount with the engine and that clearance will not change.

edit. i read it again and you figured that out all ready sorry.

NOTE-- do not jack the engine up without taking out the flyweel mount bolts or you will brake the housing.

if it is indeed hitting on the y mount's foot. the next time you do this procedure, if it were me i would trim the fat foot a bit. but that may require removing the y mount. or maybe you can sneek in there with a rotary file on a die grinder?

 

[old ugly]

here is an original so you can compare.

 

[cadillac512]

Sometimes the answer is to wedge the belt onto the pulley then turn the engine to pull the belt into position. Carefully because pulleys are delicate but trans in 3rd gear and pushing the car forward can get the job done. Not much room up there.

 

[jw hash]

well said cadillac, I run into that a lot with a new belt. no big deal sometimes I put the belt the top of the water pump and on the generator pulley and use the generator to pull the belt on. I just did that one hour ago.

 

[Synchro909]

For those of us who run an alternator, because they need more revs than a generator, the pulley on them is smaller. For that reason, a notched belt is better. I once had trouble getting my notched belt under the front pulley so I turned the belt inside out and ground a bitt off the ends of the "teeth". It's easy peezy now!