After weekend of fighting to find good mounting point for vacuum pump. Serious thoughts to shelving the damn thing.

So other than power with correct ring setup which I do not have. Helping with oil leak which should not have anyway and removing any condensate from alky. Any benefit to running one?

Belly pan will take care of any leaks. Few extra oil changes , which I do lot more than most anyway. Plus 30 minutes over burner will fix oil if contaminated with alky or moisture. When new combo is built maybe the rings seal benefit will make it worth some power.

I know with old Nova with injection when injection wasn't cool in bracket racing. Simple hose to exhaust header worked fine. No mounting, no belts and very little weight. One less thing to break not bad either.

Lots of benefits to having a controlled vacuum in the crankcase.
The correct amount, and means to achieve it, vary by application.
You can have too much.
Running a 4150 style carb, on gasoline, I use an AC Delco CV736C PCV valve, just because.

I like running a vacuum pump because it stops oil leaks and cleaner oil. When I first went to vacuum pump did not see much if any gains in performance.

Love my Star sportsman pump. I use a single belt to run the enderle fuel pump and vacuum pump. They can be tricky to find the right spot but are worth it once you do.

Don't give up on it yet.

This is an interesting subject for me because I have a bit of an unusual "Packaging" problem.

Fitting a vacuum pump and an alternator on the drivers side of the engine with nothing to off-set the belt load on the opposing passengers side. FYI, there is no chance I can mount anything on the passenger side of the motor, the engine is off-set 2 1/4 to the passengers side of the chassis to compensate for the weight of the driver. I believe that the combined belt tension(s) all pulling to one side of the crankshaft might be a concern. I've been careful with the belt tensions (alternator and vacuum pump) but it still concerns me.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by RPROGAS:
This is an interesting subject for me because I have a bit of an unusual "Packaging" problem.

Fitting a vacuum pump and an alternator on the drivers side of the engine with nothing to off-set the belt load on the opposing passengers side. FYI, there is no chance I can mount anything on the passenger side of the motor, the engine is off-set 2 1/4 to the passengers side of the chassis to compensate for the weight of the driver. I believe that the combined belt tension(s) all pulling to one side of the crankshaft might be a concern. I've been careful with the belt tensions (alternator and vacuum pump) but it still concerns me.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bob

I've seen a lot of alternators mounted backward to the frame rail on the passenger side.

I run the alternator belt pretty loose, I don't care if it slips a little.
I don't think it's a main bearing concern.

Dave, I also run the alternator and pump belts fairly loose. Then I see the belt load on my son Mike's T/D running a 14-71 and it sort of does set my mind at ease.

I've considered mounting the alternator off the companion flange on the differential but it then represents un-sprung weight, weight than does nothing but add weight to the rear of the car.

Thanks for the response.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Goob:

quote:

Originally posted by RPROGAS:
This is an interesting subject for me because I have a bit of an unusual "Packaging" problem.

Fitting a vacuum pump and an alternator on the drivers side of the engine with nothing to off-set the belt load on the opposing passengers side. FYI, there is no chance I can mount anything on the passenger side of the motor, the engine is off-set 2 1/4 to the passengers side of the chassis to compensate for the weight of the driver. I believe that the combined belt tension(s) all pulling to one side of the crankshaft might be a concern. I've been careful with the belt tensions (alternator and vacuum pump) but it still concerns me.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bob

I've seen a lot of alternators mounted backward to the frame rail on the passenger side.

I run the alternator belt pretty loose, I don't care if it slips a little.
I don't think it's a main bearing concern.

Funny because right now the vacuum pum
p is mounted backwards ion driver side frame rail of fed.Or will be as soon as I get tabs welded on

250 Blower, Alternator, vaccume pump, oil pump and fuel pump off the back of the oil pump. Belts are not on but you can see the pulleys.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BvaipS8ChufCe2Vp6

Star vacuum pump with cylinder head mount by rpd
here.

Only real advantage to running a VP is it keeps the oil clean IMO. Other than that not much advantage I see. Numerous engine dyno challenges you can google with VP and without VP, very little difference if any in horsepower.

For sure, cleaner oil and fewer leaks but if you are fine with that then no reason to worry.

To the other question about all belt loading on one side of the crank, if you have enough belt tension to worry about the load it induces on the crank, i'd be surprised if your vacuum pump lives longer than a year or so without killing the front bearing and drive shaft. A swap to cogged tooth belt or rounded tooth belt will solve all of the belt tension concerns. I also do not believe that having things on the opposite side of the engine offsets the forces pulling on the crank. Rarely if ever have I seen anything mounted on the front of an engine that is exactly 180 degrees apart thus the forces won't cancel, so I don't believe you have a real concern.

quote:

Originally posted by RPROGAS:
This is an interesting subject for me because I have a bit of an unusual "Packaging" problem.

Fitting a vacuum pump and an alternator on the drivers side of the engine with nothing to off-set the belt load on the opposing passengers side. FYI, there is no chance I can mount anything on the passenger side of the motor, the engine is off-set 2 1/4 to the passengers side of the chassis to compensate for the weight of the driver. I believe that the combined belt tension(s) all pulling to one side of the crankshaft might be a concern. I've been careful with the belt tensions (alternator and vacuum pump) but it still concerns me.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bob

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002...c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
What about an Alan Graove alternator bracket?

quote:

Originally posted by wideopen231:
Funny because right now the vacuum pum
p is mounted backwards ion driver side frame rail of fed.Or will be as soon as I get tabs welded on

Have you tried the pump running backwards yet to see if it pulls vacuum?