Motor mount and fan belt question.

S

steved454

Junior Member
I am replacing the radiator in my 1931 fordor slant and decided it was way to easy not to replace my fan belt.( should have known nothing is easy in my world!) I had trouble removing the belt from the bottom pulley and finially got it off and tried to slice my thumb off with the fan blade. I felt underneath the pulley and found the rubber or leather not sure washer real loose on the motor mount. I also tried moving the washer around to the flat side thinking that was the problem with the removal of the belt. there was no flat side to the washer as shown in the shop manual. My dad installed this motor in 1973 and I am guessing he made most of the parts or made do with what he had, since there was no easy supply of parts back then. Also missing is the spring on the bottom side of the front motor mount. It just has a washer,locking nut and cotter pin. the springs on the top of the frame seem to be completely pushed down. I am guessing that the springs are wore out and it is makeing it too hard to put the belt on. I have also noticed that the pulley is just barely rubbing the front motor mount. I have ordered a new spring set to rebuild the mount. My question I guess is I am thinking about trying to raise the motor ever so much to get the new belt on so I can have it for a wedding in a week and then replace the springs. Is this ok or do you think this is what is causing my trouble with the rubbing and trouble getting the belt on? I have replaced the belt at least one other time in the last 15 years and had no trouble.
sorry if I am rambling, this is the first time in over 30 years this car has not run and really wanting it back on the road.

thanks for any help!
 
Sounds like you pretty much have a handle on what you need to do -
The collapsed springs are what is probably causing your pulley to rub the crossmember
You should be able to (with a block of wood under the oil pan) jack the motor up enough to help you get the belt changed - as far as that goes, you could probably pop in the new support springs in at the same time.
BUT - you may want to take a real good look at the front motor mount itself ( the yoke that is supported by the springs)
You could have some issue with the center bolt of the yoke - since the spring on the bottom is missing - there should be a bushing that drops into the hole in the crossmember, before the yoke drops in.
You'll want to look in the service bulletins book - if you have one
(hope I wasn't rambling either)
 
Also as a cautionary note, I have read here on the barn that you should loosen the rear motor mounts if you jack the front of the motor. Someone mentioned that the flywheel housing can crack if too much stress is put on the engine at the front like that when you take off the front mount to change the springs..... Anyone else agree?
 
The last time I changed my belt, I had to jack the engine up (block of wood under the pan). I only raised it about 1/4", enough to get the belt in. I got new springs to put back in and will do that later.
 
I'm guessing that the bushing Scott spoke of the stepped bronze bushing. These were only used for a couple months and were installed from the bottom. Ford changed to a flat washer instead.

As far as the height of the engine in front, it's important that the hand crank is inline with the pulley bolt/crank ratchet when inserted through the crank bushing on the cross member. Years ago all the coil springs sold were too tall and stiff forcing the engine too high to use the hand crank. The collapsed springs may have been your fathers attempt to get around that problem.

Be sure the fan belt issue isn't a clearance problem between the pulley and motor mount yoke.
 
I ordered a new mount with the the spring and bushings just in case. I got the belt on without lifting the motor by pulling the generator in to the engine putting the belt around all three points then pushed the gen out and the popped in place. How far do I have to raise the motor to get the springs and maybe even the new mount in?
Thanks for the replies they helped me out greatly.
 
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