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Topic: March Performance serpentine installed !

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March Performance serpentine installed ! (1/6)
 5/28/11 12:56pm
Crimson Ghost
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I am an insomniac and quiet often have sleep issues - so I took my glass of scotch and headed out to the garage at 2am this morning to get to work.  I live in NE pennsylvania and last night was a wonderful night to be working on my car.
 
It took me a fair amount of time to get the old steering pump off, but I finally did it.  I installed a new water pump, power steering pump and had to (at least for now) use the old alternator -- but I might follow the instructions posted to me on another thread to convert my three wire to the one wire I bought.
 
Anyway, March Performance gets an A+ from me for their product and an F minus for there instructions - or at least their lack of instructions.  It took me 9 hours to strip my car and install the March Performance, albeit I was tired and drinking scotch but I did switch to coffee about 5am.
 
I test drove the car and now I know my power steering pump was either failing or failed since it steers 100%+ better.  Very glad that I sitched my pulleys to this set up - I want to thank you all for the wonderful help on this forum !!!
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March Performance serpentine installed ! (2/6)
 5/28/11 1:19pm
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John, do you have any pictures of the install? I like the serpentine belt idea.

Evil Smileebo



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March Performance serpentine installed ! (3/6)
 5/28/11 2:41pm
Crimson Ghost
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Hi again.  I rechecked everything made sure all stayed tight and took it for a good ride.  I have a small water leak at the top hose which I will have to address yet.  Aside from that all seems ok - I am not sure why but the car clearly has more power.  I know less restriction on the motor is suppose to net me a few extra horse - but I promise you that the increase in HP is very noticable. 
 
I will try and post a picture, I am not the best at these forums or photography but I'll give it a whirl.  Nope, I can;t seem to post a pic - it goes to an error page.  I can try again later.  It's not the best picture anyway.   Up next is to remove the fan and install electric fans - once I get that god awful ugly shroud out of there I can take a decent picture.  The funny part is that I didn;t want to take on too much at once (switching to a serpentine, replacing the steering pump and water pump and planned on alternator too while replacing my steering column -- and its all new to me). 
 
March Performance serpentine installed ! (4/6)
 6/6/11 9:35pm
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Way to go John

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March Performance serpentine installed ! (5/6)
 6/6/11 11:59pm
rod7515Lifetime Member
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John, Great to hear you are happy with the setup. Wish you had pics to post. Can I ask where you got your set up and what the part number is. I am also considering the change. Did a PS Pump and Alt come with the kit you bought?
Rodney


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March Performance serpentine installed ! (6/6)
 6/7/11 7:16am
Crimson Ghost
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Pulley Kit: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MCH-20450/ $550

PS Pump : http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MCH-P304/  $180

Alternator: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRO-141-657/?rtype=7 $113

Water Pump: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WND-9208P/ $125

Belt:  http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GTR-4060547/  $20

Spacer: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DER-31520/ $10

Fan Clutch: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HDA-2711/ $30

 

So it was about $1,000.

 

The (small block) kit itself is just the pulleys – I had a Saginaw style pump on my car but it was beaten to crap, I was glad I swapped it out since it steers a billion times better.  My Alternator is ugly, but works well – I’ll post a question below on this.  I went with a high flow water pump and swapped out my thermostat to a high flow.  The fan spacer was a real bugger to line up – I have a fused back and leaning over for 10-15 minutes at a clip beats me fast.  Once I got the first bolt threaded I was grateful that I was able to rest and then go at my own pace with the rest.  Leaning in and holding the unit while attempting to thread the needle in an elongated hole was miserable.  

 

The fan clutch made a world of difference, I can feel the wind from the fan while under the hood and hitting throttle.

 

My pictures aren’t the best since I still have the fan and shroud in the car – hard to see all the bling on film, but it looks great in person !

 

Ok – so the alternator.  See the link above, this is a one wire.  I looked at my car and I have three wires so I did not install this yet.  I have a battery (red) wire and a ground (black) wire on the back and a plug on the top with two wires going into it.  If you look at the picture in the link (please) you will see it has the battery wire on the back and it also appears to have the two plugs on the top – so if all its missing is a ground, can I use this alternator ?  

 

As for installing this – it didn’t come with directions, and if I had experience I would not have needed them.  Since I am new to it all it took me 9 hours to do all the work (2am – 11am, I am an insomniac thanks to the back issues just mentioned).  I suspect I could do this job in half the time now that I know what I am doing.  I dislike the PS pump’s cap position – but its ok since its not something you always have to be getting into.  The PS pump I had to hit Sears Hardware for a chrome spacer – once I used that all problems were solved with my squeal and the alignment is spot on.  My water pump leak is due to me learning still – its polished aluminum and it expanded, once I retightened the bolts the job was done.  

 
Edit:   So I guess a better question on the alternator....do I have a one wire?  I looked at summit again and searched the alternators excluding the one wires and I saw alt's with two plugs where I have one?  as mentioned my plug has two wires going into it,  the red and black wires on the back.  Maybe I have a one wire?  I counted the red, black and plug and assumed 3 - maybe I have the correct alternator all along?
Crimson Ghost2011-06-07 04:26:41
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