Help !!!!! Belts

Brewsterbuff

Brewsterbuff

Senior Member
Can anyone give me a good way to adjust the generator and fan belts on a 239 engine in an F-1 truck with the radiator shroud in place? That little, square washer seems to be the culprit! As soon as I tighten the bolt for the assembly and get the generator in place I find that the washer has turned and won't allow the fan assembly to slide up and tighten the fan belt.
I really don't want to remove the fan shroud and pull the radiator just to adjust the new belts! THANKS! Don
 
Install the fan assembly and leave the two mounting bolts finger tight to allow the generator to be adjusted for its belt, then adjust the fan belt by sliding its mounting bracket up and tighten its bolts. The trick is to allow the fan bracket to slide on the generator mount and this will keep the square washer aligned in the fan mount.
 
Yep. Put all the bolts in finger tight so the stuff can slide but stay in it's channels. The last time I had to do this, I used my "Cherry-Picker" and a strap under the generator to hold it in alinement for tightening. It worked great.
 
Another tip that makes it an easy one man job, a crowbar and a block of wood to wedge the generator up to the exact position required.
 
Years ago, a poster named "Vergil" (if I remember correctly) made a very clever tool from an old box end wrench and some round stock which is used to tighten the fan. Here are a couple of crappy pictures of the tool and it being put to use. (I tried to find the original thread, but alas, it is lost in the sands of time.)
 

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Thanks for all of the help. Cherry picker is a great idea. I don't have one! My overhead crane would work but now the hood is back on the truck.


I have tried most of the other ideas but too old get into the small places and lift the weight when working over the fenders. I tried prying but there is a lot of 'stuff' in the way. I really like Virgil's tool. I wasted all day yesterday just trying, maybe today I should find an old wrench and make a "Virgil" tool for my collection.
 
This is an option to "Virgil's tool - using a long blade screwdriver.

Use a long blade screwdriver to apply upward pressure after following the "finger tight bolt" operation.

Notice the round hollow steel spacer I used between the square nut and the special long nut. The spacer is just a hair smaller than the outside measurements of the square nut. This allows me to locate and hold the square nut in place inside the bracket slot while screwing on the special long nut and the bracket bolts finger tight. Then I place the tip of the screwdriver between the distributor cover casting and the engine block and lift the handle of the screwdriver upward as a lever and apply upward pressure on only the (generator/alternator) bracket and tighten the long special nut. At this point the 2 fan hub pulley bolts are in place but still loose.

Then (with the tip of the screwdriver located between the distributor casting cover and the engine block) I lift the handle of the screwdriver upward so as to lift ONLY the fan hub pulley bracket upward and tighten the two bolts that hold it in place.

You can use either a flathead or Phillips head screwdriver but cover the tip in plastic hose so as not to mar your paint.

Have been using this method for 20 years with no problems. I have a Walker radiator with a shroud.

One last thought. Why not first magnetize the square nut so that it "sticks"in place?
 

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Mart said:
That's a toothed wheel for firing a modern type electronic ignition.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mart for the reply. It would be interesting to see how it is installed and functions. Wonder how it's attached to the crank pulley.
 
As it turn out I was adjusting the belt tension just yesterday. Here is how I did it.
 

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After 3 days of trying to get the belts on today I 'think' I am successful. Nearly every screw driver, tire iron, pry bar, wood block, and wrench is now laying on pads on my newly painted fenders. I followed suggestions from my son! Put a 6' step ladder on each side of the car, put a 2 X 4 from one ladder to the other, run a ratchet tie around the generator and the 2 X 4 and pull it up until the generator belt is adjusted, then tighten the big center bolt. Next do basically the same operation to adjust the fan belt.


After I got finished I looked up the operation in a period Flat Rate book. Factory Flat Rate was .4 hours. I wish a top notch mechanic from 1950 would have been available to do it for me. I am always willing to learn!


I DID NOT remove the hood or the radiator and fan shroud! Sure do hope I don't need to do it again!
 

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Holey Moley! There are much easier ways of tightening the 8BA belts other than the 2x4 method shown above. Plus, there is a good chance of putting a dent in the top of your fenders from the force of the 2x4. Imagine doing that if you had to replace a fan belt "on the road".

Open this and scroll down to Post #19 for another "tool" idea.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55015&highlight=fan+belt+adjusting

Here's another good post on making an adjustment tool for tightening belts on 59 engines.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=288898&highlight=fan+belt+adjustment&page=3
 
Last edited:
Brewsterbuff said:
After 3 days of trying to get the belts on today I 'think' I am successful. Nearly every screw driver, tire iron, pry bar, wood block, and wrench is now laying on pads on my newly painted fenders. I followed suggestions from my son! Put a 6' step ladder on each side of the car, put a 2 X 4 from one ladder to the other, run a ratchet tie around the generator and the 2 X 4 and pull it up until the generator belt is adjusted, then tighten the big center bolt. Next do basically the same operation to adjust the fan belt.


After I got finished I looked up the operation in a period Flat Rate book. Factory Flat Rate was .4 hours. I wish a top notch mechanic from 1950 would have been available to do it for me. I am always willing to learn!


I DID NOT remove the hood or the radiator and fan shroud! Sure do hope I don't need to do it again!
Click to expand...

Good deal, I use a cherry picker, same concept. Most 8RT intakes I see have the generator mount rails broken off, sometimes on one side sometimes on both. With the cherry picker, I know my force is straight up and not applying pressure to that thin cast area.

JB
 
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