Is it possible to safely modify a near match 2 or 3 V groove crankshaft pulley to fit when origionals are very hard / impossible or very expensive if you can find them ?? I'm in the process of installing Vintage Air on a 1954 Cadillac with the origional 331 engine, with only a single groove crankshaft pulley ... I'm hoping to modify a later 1950's Cadillac 2 or 3 groove crankshaft pulley to mount on the harmonic balancer ... I realize that I would have to be fairly close for overall size and offset ... Anyone with experience doing this when the origional was not available ?? I'll be doing this with just basic welding (mig) and machining (lathe) as necessary ... I've noticed a couple of other posts asking for 2 or 3 groove Cadillac pulleys ...
Most aftermarket AC kits come with an additional crank pulley to add the needed belt for the installation. You are doing basically the same thing. I would just do a carefully thought out job of making the modification and use high quality hardware to mount it.
ive done it before, its no real big deal, as long as its done correctly. you could pic up a second of the same pull, find a peice of tubing that fits the inside of the pully diameter, cut the groove from second pully and use the tubing as a way to center it, and weld the outer edge of the pullys together if that makes sense. JEFF
I did this exact same thing to make a W/P pulley for a 270 Dodge hemi. I didn't even have a piece of tube to center it. Since the pulleys were exactly the same diameter, I just carefully aligned them. Ran it with no problem for years. I ran four 1/2 long beads each 90 degrees.
Thank you ... some good suggestions ... Its pretty hard to find even a single pulley from a 1954 up here or on ebay, although I see 1 listed now at $130 plus another $50 shipping (pictured) Machining from scratch ... its possible ... using the origional as a template ... but I'm using an old SouthBend lathe in my basement ... Welding on an additional groove or 2, I didn't think of that, even bolting on as in the origional ... Good Idea ... matching up the material, thickness and circumference ... I'd be interested in buying one if anyone has a 2 or 3 groove crankshaft pulley to fit 1954 Caddy ... There isn't too much in the way of old Caddy parts up here ...
I've done this job a fair few times and what i do is make up a daptor which goes under the crank bolts and then i have either welded another pulley to it or made the complete thing in aluminium, Hope that makes sense.
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