EL 4.0l --just replaced the dodgey idler plastic pulleys with some steel ones

does it matter which way they are fitted

the ribbed top one has a lip on one edge only - should this face the engine or front of car

the flat bottom one has a curved edge - should this face engine or front of car

I forget which way the ripped pulley goes... flat pulley has the curved edge facing forward.

The offset should be obvious once youve put them on... they wont line up properly if fitted backwards...

You should use the plastic ones, the steel ones still bugger up the bearings. The plastic ones have lips on both sides, (ribbed ones).
Some of those steel ones don't have replaceable bearings anyway.

i think the steel ones are much better and the ones i got do have replaceable bearings and whether they are encased in metal or plastic they are still prone to failure and at least this way you can replace just the bearing at a fraction of the the cost - so i dont understand your reasoning

and as for fitting - the flat bottom one will only fit one way - that is curved edge facing the motor and the top ribbed one will fit either way and i dont think it matters but i fitted it with the lip faced towards the front of the car and all is good

Whats the go with the serpentine belts.

Why would i want to convert from old s**t to serpentine?

Does it make the car faster, more powerfull, free revving? Never really payed attention to why youd change.

Think when you want an engine to rev out quicker, you do things like lightening the flywheel, alloy conrods, lighter forged pistons, etc....
Well same goes for the plastic pulleys. How light are they verses the steel ones? Just chasing an edge, thats all.
I'm converting my 88EA to serpentine, using XH ute components.

if ya dont wanna change then dont

im not changing its original

but i assume the people that do it is to fit later model parts - eg power steering pump/air cond compressor/water pump/alternator and to lose the fan and fit twin themo's

I did mine the other week and IIRC I found the same.

I tend to agree with this - you can later on replace them with good quality NTN bearings or similar - I'm not sure on the grease quality, but the bearing sealing retainers can be carefully levered out with instrument screwdrivers and the bearing repacked with high temp bearing grease and the retainers refitted - should give you even longer life.

As for the serpentine conversion, well you reduce the number of belts from 3 to 1. I drove an ED wagon, and compared to my EL wagon, the EL is heaps smoother and quieter, and I attribute this to the absence of an engine driven fan. I have read many forums reflecting this, and the fact the engine driven fan does rob a bit of engine power.

yeh i agree, throw plastic ones on cause they're lighter.

Plastic would prove less running weight than steel pulleys but has anyone weighed them both for a comparison? also you have to compare reliability between the two.plastic strength = fcuk all, steel strength = well alot stronger than plastic. also if you bend a steel pulley getting it off you can panel beat it back, like to see you do that with a plastic job. Also every steel pulley i've ever encountered has been the replaceable bearing type, it's just that the replacement cost of the whole pulley is comparable to the cost of the bearing, & your gettin a brand new pulley! Also with steel, or plastic for that matter, you can get them drilled out (& balanced) to weigh probably close to the plastic pulley.
Work smarter not harder. I know i hate replacing broken s**t on my car & would like to reduce the frequency. Reliability stays paralell with power if you want a viable street/strip car.


N.B: If you think light weight pulleys will gain you that extra 3-4 kw over the rest of the stock standard bucket of s**t falcons out there than go get some alluminium pulleys turned up by a professional machine shop & they would likely weigh less than plastic ones.