Conversion to Serpentine Belt - 231 V6

[mpc]

Hello,

I've done some searching, but I haven't found much on this topic for my engine.

I'm considering changing my V-belts to a serpentine belt system. My engine is a 1976 Buick V6 231 odd-fire (in a Jeep). My plan was to just check the junkyard for any Buick 3.8 engines I come across and see what I might be able to piece together, since I'm sure there would be no kit for this application. One piece of the puzzle is to find out if a reverse water pump will bolt up to my engine?

Any info on possible donor vehicles, year and make, would be very helpful.

Thanks!

[Tom231]

Hi, I attended the Hot August Nights Car show in Reno Nevada last month. There were thousands of beautiful cars there with hundreds of engine applications. I have seen several small block Chevys running a serpentine belt system with the water pump rotating the regular way, which is rotating clockwise. The difference that I saw was, those who had this application, did not install a belt tensioner. They all used a mechanical device to take up the tension on their serpentine belt. If I remember correctly, most use their alternator to take up the tension on the belt. I checked the belt routing to make sure that the water pump was indeed rotating clockwise, and they all were. For you, it will be a matter of finding the correct water pump that will accept a serpentine pulley that will line up with the other pulleys in the system. With that said, I don't see why you can't do the same thing. You may want to ask around to check on this. Hope this helps. Good luck, Tommy.

[Tom231]

This is one example of a serpentine belt system that does not use a belt tensioner. The alternator is used to take up the tension on the belt. Notice that the rotation on the water pump is clockwise. Hope this helps. Good luck, Tommy.