To belt or not to belt, that is the question

[chockey]

The water pump on my 1981 has started to drip and I will be replacing it this weekend, I hope.

The question is and I really need some input from you folks with air conditioning expertise. When I bought the vette the belt was removed from the air conditioner compressor, I was told it didn't work. Heck I live in the hills of upstate New York and our 90 degree + days you can count on both hands expect for this year. Anyway the pully spins freely so maybe the system has no charge to it. Do I dare put a belt on it and see what happens or what should I do to check this out first ?????????????????????

While doing the water pump I plan on changing the radiator hoses and possibly the heater hoses too as I don't know when the last time they were changed. They seem to be in OK condition but at least I would certainly know they are new.

A thank you in advance for your help!

Chuck

 

[69MyWay]

Chuck,

I say put the belt on, and give it a try.



Good luck!

 

[77-4speed]

If the pulley spins freely, you can't hurt anything by putting the belt on. That is of course, until you turn on the a/c

Russ

 

[Nut]

Chuck,

When I bought my '81 years ago the guy told me the A/C didn't work. It needed nothing more than a freon charge and has perfectly ever since. Ya won't know until you give it a try.

............ Nut

 

[sac001]

Belt it, what's the worst that could happen?

Just be careful the first time you try it, and if it doesn't work, you can always pull the belt and fix it later.

Steve

 

[chockey]

Thank You, Thank You for your input I will try putting the belt on when I install the water pump. I'm not a mechanic but at best a part changer and I appreciate your thoughts.

Chuck :BOW

 

[chockey]

This is an update!

Well I guess that Mr. Murphy, you know that guy with those laws about things going wrong, he is visiting me.

My question was if I should put a belt on my air conditioning system while I'm changing the water pump. Here is the problem in that the bolt for the water pump and the air cond. pump is broken off at the block. So probably the air does work its just that tension could not made on the belt. So this work is above my parts changing abilities and a local shop who specializes in custom and vintage cars is going to do the bolt removal, water pump install and test the air conditioner.

Hope that this is the last of the major things for the year, but who knows, it comes with the teritorry. I will miss the car show this thursday but will have the money pit back on the road next week.

 

[c4ever]

Chuck,
When I lived in Vestal I usually had the heater going:L

Looks like she'll be good to go in no time at all

Carlo

 

[chockey]

Carlo

I cannot believe that you gave up living where it is winter for 5 -6 months a year for Florida, help me understand this? Our rainy season only lasts from August 1st to July 31st with a few sunny days thrown in to tease us. Where you always carry an umbrella on your golf bag and the department stores have the winter line of clothes out in mid July.

Vestal, recap, The little league team has qualified to play in the Williamsport Little League tournament. Howard's Florist on the parkway has had a second major fire for the second year in a row. The old railroad bed has been paved as a nature walk. There is a new bridge from near the Blue Dolphin Resturant over the Susquehanna to Campville. Finally the infamous Vestal police put on a campaign to stop agressive driving on the parkway and issued over 350 tickets in 1 month.

I don't use the heater in my Vette because it is put away my mid November and doesn't come out until after mid April. Thats life in the Northeast, now I understand why you live in Floirda now.

Chuck

 

[c4ever]

Chuck,
Thanks for the update. Kidding aside, I loved it up there. Best home I ever owned but the old re-lo struck again. It's good to see everythings just as it was:L It really pi**ed me off when they moved the Ranger farm team. By the way, I hope that C in hockey isn't for Canadian:nono Everyone knows the Rangers are the only team worth watching:eyerole
Say hello to Gloom county as we used to call it.

Carlo

 

[chockey]

Hi Carlo

I'm a hockeyaholic and have been playing for 31 yrs, just because i'm old doesn't mean i'm smart, C is just the first letter of my name. I have been a Ranger fan since about 1970, but I lost a lot of respect when they pulled their stunt and moved the team to Hartford. I know the owners very well and played hockey with them, yes it was good for them $$$$ to sell the team but if they didn't NY Rangers :bash were going to pull out anyways. The ploy of putting the team in Hartford was to block the Pittsburgh Penguins from moving to Hartford and watering down the the hockey market that is consummed by Boston Bruins, NY Islanders, NJ Devils and NY Rangers.

This year is a new direction in that the same owners with additional local investers were able to purchase the Ottawa Senators AHL franchise and sign a contract for the next 5 yrs to be the primary farm team of Ottawa.

Gloom County, well you would never guess but I met a guy from NJ at the BCOPEN and he loves coming here each year because the weather is so good or did he mean the air is cleaner, Oh Well.

My hockey season starts in 5 weeks and I hope this year they put in the fast ice because last year I seemed to be skating a lot slower, HA HA.

Chuck

 

[c4ever]

Good to hear Hockeys back. I'm sure we'll have much to discuss in a couple of months:argue

God luck with the A/C

Carlo

 

[chockey]

Update Update

The problem with the water pump was worse than expected. Not only was the bolt broken but was stripped in the block, This ment $$$$$$$$$ extra but it is fixed. Puddle welding a nut on to what was left of the bolt didn't work because it was stripped so it was the old drill and tap routine which equals extra hours. The car runs 5-10 degrees cooler now or so it seems, just very happy that it was repairable and I can drive it again.

I will tackle the AC in a couple of weeks, just have to loosen the power steering unit to slip another belt on to the crank. Didn't do it now because if there is something to be done it would have to wait anyways. The temp here is now bouncing around the 70- 80 range with it being in the high 40's to 50's at night. I hope to have it working when we have Indian Summer for my fall rides through the Catskills.

Chuck