sstang

I was considering getting a shorter belt to bypass some accessories for when I am at the drag strip. I would just put the belt on whenever I got there. I haven't looked at my car yet to see what could be bypassed yet, but if it were possible, I was thinking of bypassing the power steering, air conditioning, and the alternator. What do you guys think about this? I know the a/c has a clutch and doesn't have any resistance when off, so I don't know if that will help any. I am also not sure if there would be any harm done to the p/s, although I know a lot of fox guys bypass this at the track.

I know there wouldn't be any significant gain, but it only takes 1 minute to swap the belt, and a couple extra ponies never hurt.

sstang

bump

ShadowDrake

Routing to get good grip from the belt would be the only issue, you couldn't get many runs without the alternator attached... maybe run it without the alternator, then let it idle for a little to charge back up.

I doubt the power steering would take any damage... don't hold me to that though.

Yes, the A/C has a clutch, you can use that pulley like an idler pulley to get good wrap around the other pullies if needed. It's really not an awful idea, just be sure toget the water pump and tensioner.

texas_stang02

hey any extra power does help, so if you find a way to route the belt then go for it. if you bypass the alternator, make sure you have a good battery and maybe bring a charger to keep current flowing through the battery in between runs... you want as much juicefrom yourbattery as possible. in our circle track cars we always ran two batteries, one for the distributor alone and one for all the gauges and other electrical accessories, but that was because we ran 10 lap heats and 30 lap features (we eventually just started using an alternator, the power gained from not running one was negated in the later parts of the race when the battery didn't have as much juice).

if you do get a shorter belt set up, take some pics so we can all see how you routed it.

MU71L4710N

u could switch to an electric waterpump and just have the crank and alternator running with the tensioner...that should be a pretty easy loop (dont remember the exact configuration for the pulleys).

300$ for a new elec. waterpump tho

sstang

Yeah I would have a battery charger there with me so I could keep a charge in between runs, plus my brother truck would be there to jump me off if needed. I have an Optima red top, so I think it could last a few laps.

sstang

I was just looking at the diagram and it looks like it can't be done. Only way I see is if you had an electric water pump like mentioned above. I'll probably eventually get an electric pump, and when I do I will probably either run a belt around the balancer and the alternator, or no belt at all!!!

jlw2387

Not even worth it dude. The only thing you can really bypass is the Alt and the PS, and they arent gonna give you enough HP to make it worth it. Your best bet is gonna be an electric water pump.

4.698GT

Now you think it takes a min to change a belt, but remember when you get to the track, it definitely gonna take some more time because everything is gonna be hot