belt squealing/ water pump to alternator alignment.

[j.rigby15r]

So I have a 64 with a sbc 350 that the belt is squealing really bad when I first start it up or when it's cold and rainy. The belt I'm sure is old and I know it is adjusted properly. I have a stock pulley on the alternator and a chrome one on the crank and water pump. See images below, but I think the noise is coming from the water pump and the alternator. It looks to me if the alternator sits a but in from the rest. If this is the case can I shim the alternator out a touch to align everything up? Or is there something else I should do? It doesn't scream all the time just enough to drive you nuts. Any help would be appreciated. Oh and the belt never seems wet when it's raining.

[Hawks]

It looks straight but hard to tell from pictures, spray some belt dressing or WD40 on it and see if the noise stops,

[franken]

From the top left of pic 1 we can see you have a 73+ accessory setup.
The mount at the water inlet has a slotted hole that will allow you to tune the alignment a bit. It looks like moving the bracket toward the engine will help. Loosen the nut on the water inlet, push in on the alt, and tighten.
You can try sanding the V part of the belt, but once polished, buying new is easier.

[j.rigby15r]

Originally Posted by franken

From the top left of pic 1 we can see you have a 73+ accessory setup.
The mount at the water inlet has a slotted hole that will allow you to tune the alignment a bit. It looks like moving the bracket toward the engine will help. Loosen the nut on the water inlet, push in on the alt, and tighten.
You can try sanding the V part of the belt, but once polished, buying new is easier.

Can you dumb that down a bit on adjusting alignment?

[joedoh]

I had a 62 galaxie that squalled like a blue whale when it was cold, it was adjusted correctly and completely drove me nuts. turned out the belt was old, and shredded one morning. new belt solved it.

[imjeff]

Replace the belt.

[1966shortwide]

Make sure the belt lay's in all the pully's deep enough. I had to get a different width belt on a car , i got a cheaper brand and it fit deeper into pully it would squeal on starting and on acceleration. You mentioned chrome aftermarket pully's, they might be to narrow .

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by franken

From the top left of pic 1 we can see you have a 73+ accessory setup.
The mount at the water inlet has a slotted hole that will allow you to tune the alignment a bit. It looks like moving the bracket toward the engine will help. Loosen the nut on the water inlet, push in on the alt, and tighten.
You can try sanding the V part of the belt, but once polished, buying new is easier.

It does appear to me as well the alternator is bit out of alignment. Easiest way to confirm is by laying a steel straightedge against the front of the pulley and see if it lines up perfectly with the others. It appears the passenger side of the pulley may be a bit farther forward, but hard to tell for sure from a photograph.

[OldGMJon]

I have the same problem with my 65' GMC I6. The generator gets replaced by an alternator which sets back 3/8ths of an inch so you hear the bearing slop. Haven't fixed it yet but the analysis at NAPA was to shim the pulley out to line up (not enough shaft on the alternator) or install a double pulley to align right.