List---From time to time, someone will offer that their fan belt is
difficult to remove and replace. The complaint is that there isn't
enough room between the front pulley and the frame (tube) cross member
and steering rack below. A few weeks ago I made up a reason to pull my
engine and transmission. On returning these, I also replaced the
original "elastic" engine mounts. (That's the ones that bolt to the
frame) The distance between my pulley and cross member was also
marginal, having to turn the 1/2" belt sideways and really tug. Before
tightening these new mounts, I levered the engine back as far as it
wanted to go. After tightening the nuts, the distance here went from 3/8
inch to 9/16 inch. No problem at the tranny getting things to bolt up,
but I'm sure it would help if these bolts were left loose until the
engine front mounts were secured.
I suspect that the old mounts had just collapsed over time, and/or the
engine wasn't pushed back as far as it would go and an earlier time.
Just something to keep in mind if the fan belt is an issue with you...
Dick Taylor
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