Was out on a nice drive today. I was headed home and.... (see pics)...

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5724/66belt1.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8192/66belt2.jpg


I got off the road immediately.

So, I know crap about cars, haha, but I learn through adversity. What is the part that broke? Is it a difficult fix? Possible causes?

I got towed. It's sitting at the wrecker yard about a mile from a mechanic I know. Ruined my day. Oh well, gives me a reason to have a couple beers.

 

Water pump pulley. What engine and mods has it had?

This looks like the pulley you need but i dont know just what you have for a motor.

http://www.cjponyparts.com/water-pum...5-1969/p/WPP1/


Simple to change just 4 bolts in the middle to take out, hold the fan and take them out and the fan, spacer and pulley will come off. Pick up a couple of new belts from your local parts store and you are set.

 

As far as causes go this is a odd ball thing to have a pulley break.

Look at the old belts and see if it looks like one side is worn more then the other. This would be a sign of missalinment of the pulleys.

Once you get the new pulley on and the car started up look for any wiggling of the pulley this would mean the water pump bearing has problems.

The last thing would be material failure, which i would think would be the most likely. As long as the new pully spins straight and isnt being pulled around by missalinement then you should be good to go.

 

Hey thanks.

It's a 289 hipo. Mods? Not sure. Aside from a few things I had done, I bought it restored.

This sounds totally do-able, which is cool. And if I can get it done at the wrecker yard, it'll save me the towing cost to the shop.


Ironically, I was out hunting down a coolant recovery tank, just as a preventive step to keep me off the side of the road.

 

Looks like belts and a pulley but im betting water pump is bad but its a easy fix.

 

hmmm no warning signs? You think the belt would have heard a wobbling sound or squeaking or etc

 

agreed....you should have been hearing some horrible wobbling sound. the water pump pulley doesnt just snap. the only thing i can think of is horrible tight tension from the steering belt but to be enough to snap the pulley? hell no.

'66 289? just replaced mine with
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GMB-125-1420P/
i painted it blue but that's up to you

 

Well, its morning and I've switched to coffee. Thanks for the input.

FWIW, I have a/c and no power steering. Car was originally an I6. Been trying to dig back a bit to find out when some of the work was done, the previous owner had mostly cosmetic work done.

The only warning sign I can think of is that I was hearing a squealing sound a few days ago. It sounded like a belt, from my limited experience. It was intermittent, so I couldn't even get the hood up before it stopped. It didn't come back, so no big deal, I thought. I don't recall any wobbling but that doesn't mean there wasn't any.

I'm gonna give it my best shot Monday morning. I've never been a DIY person when it comes to cars.

Question: Can I drive the car? Its about 5 miles to my house, or 1 mile to a mechanic that's worked on it before.

 

Did you leave a ring in the radiator?

 

Ouch! I have never seen a pulley fail like that! was it an original pulley? Is there a part number on it? You should not drive it without a new pulley on there... it turns your water pump and the motor will overheat QUICK! It looks like an easy enough fix without the water pump replacement... you could realistically fix it where it sits (at least temporarily) with a new pulley, belt and a couple wrenches.... Then you could drive it and see if you need a new water pump too...