Pulley Alignment is the Bane of my Existence....

I just need to install power steering and fiddle with kickdown linkage for my first ever test drive. I looked at countless pictures to see how these brackets line up, and went to install....

And the crank and PS pulley are offset by maybe 1/8" of an inch??



Argh! Of course! 72 Dodge Dart, originally a slant. Now a LA 360. I have a Saginaw pump (Cardone 20-6159). I bought small block 70s brackets. I have a stock replacement balancer. I have a two groove crank pulley. The PS pulley is a replacement from 440 Source. Timing cover is later 80s (engine is 92). The measurements between the pulley nut and pulley between my bent pulley and the new one is the same , +/-. 010. Is it my bracket placement? What can I check? Maybe I just misinterpreted pictures? This is brand new so I don't have anything but the internet to reference.

I think that pump is intended for a slant...

Tried the Saginaw pump that came with the brackets (it was very sludgy so a new one was bought). No change whatsoever. Pretty sure that would be the correct pump , no?

EDIT : Does it matter that's its a keyed, bolt on pump? Do I need the press on version of the Saginaw? Does it even matter?

Do big block and small block pulleys interchange if they are for the exact same pump?

EDIT : Trying to throw anything to the wall here and trying to prevent multiple posts. I had to make my own bolt spacer for the PS. What length should that spacer be? Perhaps mine is too long?

Once again, I'm happy with spare parts. The boyfriend is building a small block for his Dart and had pulled everything from a 78 LeBaron (?), including the pump. It was a Saginaw pump , with a press on pulley.

Oh look....



Triangle bracket wasn't installed but it was there to show that it provides the right amount of space to align the pulley. Looks a helluva lot closer. The downside is that the pulley wobbles a little bit, so I'm on the hunt for another. The RIGHT pulley. Maybe a pump too. Off to the Wanted forum I go!

Posting here to close it up in case somebody 5 years from now finds themselves in the same position.

Not much help from me, but mixing LA pump/brackets/pullies etc with a Magnum block can be a pain in the arse! Looks closer in the last pics. I dont like the looks of that plate( or whatever it is( behind the bracket. Check Bouchillion performance they may have what you need? This is why I like stock matching stuff.
Good luck!

4spdragtop said:

Not much help from me, but mixing LA pump/brackets/pullies etc with a Magnum block can be a pain in the arse! Looks closer in the last pics. I dont like the looks of that plate( or whatever it is( behind the bracket. Check Bouchillion performance they may have what you need? This is why I like stock matching stuff.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks! It's actually still a LA block and head combo, last year for those. But yeah making sure every single bracket and component that matches and lines up has been a major headache. I just want to drive the dang car!

I'll look into them, but that plate behind the bracket is the triangular bracket that goes behind there and bolts to the water pump (I guess for more support?) . I just placed it back there for spacing reference to make sure the pulleys line up properly.

My bad sorry for some reason I was tinkin' Magnum.

Dodge72 said:

Thanks! It's actually still a LA block and head combo, last year for those. But yeah making sure every single bracket and component that matches and lines up has been a major headache. I just want to drive the dang car!

I'll look into them, but that plate behind the bracket is the triangular bracket that goes behind there and bolts to the water pump (I guess for more support?) . I just placed it back there for spacing reference to make sure the pulleys line up properly.

Click to expand...

I have been fighting the same things. Working on it now. From what I can tell the triangle bracket that bolts to the bottom two screws on the timing cover is a little too far forward. My ps brackets are Mancini Racing parts that I bought to change to 70 belt setup.

From what I can tell all the Saginaw pumps (except for the tin reservoir cases) are all the same. Two Main different styles of reservoirs, one square-ish and one round. The return line moves around depending on application, but the mounting features and location of the pressure output are all the same. The later ones had press on pulleys. This is what I think based on my research.

I don’t have any data on pulleys.

My big problem is my power steering hose interferes with my motor mount stand. Does yours?