Short Water Pump Brackets and Pulleys for 65-68 396

[Nashville Cat]

I will start with some great info from Bruce, a Team Chevelle member screen name "AZcamino".
He has a 67 El Camino and knows a lot about power steering brackets.

Bruce says current repros are based off 68 C10's and are about 3/4" too long and too high.
Here are his recommendations to modify the PS lower bracket to make it like original :

1st post
I would cut a 3/4" wide section out of the center and reweld it.



I previously posted, showing where to cut 3/4 inch to shorten the longer bracket. I tried that today and 3/4 inch is good in the x axis, but it is more complicated than that.
The mounting pivot also needs to be moved in the y axis, to get the pump low enough to clear the lower alternator bracket and get full belt adjustment inwards. I am going to
make that modification tomorrow.

Here is a photo of what it looks like right now compared to the OEM Chevelle bracket.



Bruce's drawing shows where the current changes need to be made.
The orange outline is where the OEM Chevelle bracket should be.




I cut and bent the bracket this morning and checked the dimensions with my template. I will weld the gap and check the fit on my chassis.
Mission accomplished !
The modified 68 Chevelle/pickup bracket now fits the same as the OEM lower bracket, with full adjustment and clearance to the lower alternator bracket.
I measured a belt size range of 50 to 52 inches.
Alternator and PS now have proper clearance

 

[Nashville Cat]

Info about how the rear PS pump bracket attaches :



The rear bracket attaches to the same bolt at the rear of the lower alternator bracket

 

[Nashville Cat]

Talking about crank pulleys :

This is an original crank pulley 3874414. It's a two row pulley used with C60 air conditioning.
A third row pulley is added in front of this one with N40 power steering : 3874416.

 

[cheveslakr]

Good info, wish I had known. I used the truck bracket and made it work, but it was tight. I think I did some tweeking, but no outright refab. I had a pressure hose in stock for another app. and since it was a budget build, just used it. The fix would have been get the proper hose, and refab the bracket. My hose extends upward 2 inches which forces the pump to be a bit higher than where it should. So, when you buy the hose, makes sure it's the correct one which a tight 120* right from the steering box.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Here is a chart of pulley part numbers for big blocks 66-68
C60 = air conditioning
N40 = power steering
L34 396 was rated at 350 hp in 1967, down from 360 in 66 (probably for insurance reasons)
L35 was the lowest 325 hp version

 

[Nashville Cat]

Talking about Water Pump pulleys :

All 66 - 68 396's which had power steering and air conditioning had this water pump pulley : 3908920.
It has 3 grooves ; the outer groove is for the smog pump which 99% of owners threw away

Pics of my 3 groove 3908920 pulley

 

[cage2592]

This is the reason I keep all the brackets and pulleys from every engine.

Great post and info. Thank you Beth.

 

[L78fanatic]

There was a lengthy discussion recently on TC regarding pulleys for a ‘67. This is good info!

Btw, Bruce’s Elco is a ‘66 not a ‘67. He’s really a perfectionist and a good guy! His El Camino is on hold for awhile with him restoring his ‘62? Vette currently.

 

[Nashville Cat]

A nice pic of a non-ac pulley setup. Notice the crank pulley has 2 grooves; the 3rd groove for ac would normally be in the center

 

[cheveslakr]

That crank pulley is 2 piece, the one closest to the block is standard, the outer is the ad on. They have 3 male/female interface locator thingys.

 

[Nashville Cat]

That crank pulley is 2 piece, the one closest to the block is standard, the outer is the ad on. They have 3 male/female interface locator thingys.

Here's a pic of that 2 piece, 2 groove crank setup
This is the flat pulley with the locating rings; it mounts in the back.



Flat pulley is 3755820 and dished is 3751232



Assembled :

 

[SSuperDave]

When I added power steering to my last '68 BB, those pulleys were out of sight price wise. I found an aftermarket billet 3 groove that was an exact repalcement for half the price, and painted it black. No issues with it.

 

[Nashville Cat]

When I added power steering to my last '68 BB, those pulleys were out of sight price wise. I found an aftermarket billet 3 groove that was an exact repalcement for half the price, and painted it black. No issues with it.

Price is definitely a factor but I found OEM pulleys for about the same, maybe a little more.
I think I paid $120 for the crank pulley - 2 pulleys that locked together and had 3 grooves for ac and ps.
For me, I won't spend a fortune, but I want the engine to look as close to stock as possible.
Popping the hood and working on the same engine I did at 20 years old ? I love it.

 

[SSuperDave]

At the time I was looking, those two pulleys were close to $200, and the billet one was $40. Once painted, it would have taken a magifying glass to tell. But I built that car on an almost zero budget, out of necessity at that time. I've spent a LOT more freely on the '70 Elky that I'm building now!

 

[cheveslakr]

I think I've got another water pump pulley for the '67 396.