Where Might I find a special short length fan belt?

[coco h]

Not haveing much luck finding one - they seem to made in China - any ideas on who might make a cutom length one or have a huge variety of sizes?

[stevieturbo]

What size is it you need ??

I wouldnt imagine any regular automotive belt is that hard to find ? Even if motor factors dont stock it, they should usually be able to order it.

Is it a v-belt or a serpentine/multirib ?

[GreenV8S]

coco h said:

Not haveing much luck finding one - they seem to made in China - any ideas on who might make a cutom length one or have a huge variety of sizes?

It will depend whether you're looking for an old style V belt or a more modern poly-V style belt, but I'd have thought any decent motorfactor could put you in touch with a local stockist. For example I struggled to find a matching belt for my V8S but was eventually sent to a local specialist who literally had a warehouse full of racking and stocked every size and shape imaginable. If you have to find it yourself, Gates Auto Master would be a good starting point as they make all shapes and sizes. If you have to get a one-off made I imagine that would be prohibitively expensive, but in an emergency you could run temporarily with one of those emergency 'one size fits all' V belts (basically a tube cut to length).

[Pigeon]

Yellow pages... industrial drive suppliers... bearings, belts and stuff. They're usually a standard industrial size even if that size is not common in automotive applications. Type number on the old belt should find an equivalent, failing that take the old belt along so they can match it.

[paolow]

Echoing what pete said, any half decent motor factor should be able to help you here. last time i had issues with a kit car and a weird alternator placement i told them what i wanted and 5 minutes later had a belt that was within 2 mil of what i was after for about a fiver.

[thong]

one of the short'est v-belts ive seen is on a pug 205 diesel,cam to vac pump drive.

[coco h]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm sure one of these options will work out. For info, it will need to be an old-style V-belt, short enough to drive just the alternator (no water pump). The engine is an A-Series and it is being converted to use an electric water pump.

[Pigeon]

Whether that is worthwhile is a whole nother debate but the industrial drive place ought to be good here... you could get the size by cutting down an old belt and supergluing the ends together to give them something to match against... It's not massively short anyway, I don't reckon; the power steering belt on my Volvo 164 goes direct from the crank pulley to the pump, which is mounted down the bottom of the engine, so it's pretty short, and I got one from a local motor parts shop no problem.

[thong]

coco h said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm sure one of these options will work out. For info, it will need to be an old-style V-belt, short enough to drive just the alternator (no water pump). The engine is an A-Series and it is being converted to use an electric water pump.

put the old belt round the crank and alternator,cross them over then mark it,then measure it,now off to your local motor factors arm'ed with measurement.

[motorwise]

Pigeon said:

Whether that is worthwhile is a whole nother debate but the industrial drive place ought to be good here... you could get the size by cutting down an old belt and supergluing the ends together to give them something to match against... It's not massively short anyway, I don't reckon; the power steering belt on my Volvo 164 goes direct from the crank pulley to the pump, which is mounted down the bottom of the engine, so it's pretty short, and I got one from a local motor parts shop no problem.

just tie string round it (to use as a measure that is, not a belt )

[r1ot]

Here is an article I wrote on selecting drive belts when trying to find the right length for my kit car.

www.r1ot.com/belts.htm

[steve_d]

motorwise said:

Pigeon said:

Whether that is worthwhile is a whole nother debate but the industrial drive place ought to be good here... you could get the size by cutting down an old belt and supergluing the ends together to give them something to match against... It's not massively short anyway, I don't reckon; the power steering belt on my Volvo 164 goes direct from the crank pulley to the pump, which is mounted down the bottom of the engine, so it's pretty short, and I got one from a local motor parts shop no problem.

just tie string round it (to use as a measure that is, not a belt )

Sorry no.
A vee belt does not sit right down into the full depth of the vee on a pully so if you use string the belt will be too short.

Steve

[motorwise]

steve_d said:

motorwise said:

Pigeon said:

Whether that is worthwhile is a whole nother debate but the industrial drive place ought to be good here... you could get the size by cutting down an old belt and supergluing the ends together to give them something to match against... It's not massively short anyway, I don't reckon; the power steering belt on my Volvo 164 goes direct from the crank pulley to the pump, which is mounted down the bottom of the engine, so it's pretty short, and I got one from a local motor parts shop no problem.

just tie string round it (to use as a measure that is, not a belt )

Sorry no.
A vee belt does not sit right down into the full depth of the vee on a pully so if you use string the belt will be too short.

Steve

I know - it drives on the sides of the V - but how innaccurate will it be - excercise a bit of common sense and don't pull it tight

[GreenV8S]

motorwise said:

I know - it drives on the sides of the V - but how innaccurate will it be - excercise a bit of common sense and don't pull it tight

You know that the length of the belt is defined by the rigid outer layer, and you can tell how high this sits from the bottom of the groove. If you measure round the bottom of the pulleys and then add in add in that height for every 90 degree wrap on the pulley, you'll get a good approximation of the total length you need.