The 4 hour pulley install ended up taking 4 days. I bought the Cravenspeed 15% pulley and their puller, which is the one that has the center bolt and doesn't require an additional puller.

Following the instructions posted on the board (Thanks Randy!) I started dismantling. I was down to the pulley and installed the puller being sure it was properly aligned. Then the trouble began. I tightened down the bolt and the pulley started to move. After about moving about 1/4 " it got harder to turn the bolt. Having read that it takes quite a bit of strenght to pull it I cranked on the bolt and heard a sickening sound! The bolt sheared off flat with the puller. I called Craven Speed and they mailed me out a stronger bolt that day to replace the broken bolt. Having a couple of days to wait for the new bolt, I had plenty of time to figure out how to get the old bolt out. I broke off two easy-outs and numerous drill bits trying to get the bolt to move without success. When the new bolt arrived and I still hadn't been able to remove the puller from the pulley, I reverted to my trusty hacksaw. I was able to get the saw blade in between the puller and the pulley and saw through the bolt. Now the bolt was broken flush on both sides of the puller. After more attempts to remove the bolt, I surrendered and took it to a machine shop to have it drilled our and re-tapped. An hour and $30 later, I was on my way home with a functioning puller. This time I greased up the bolt, tightened it, backed it off and then tightened again. A few cranks and the pulley was finally off. The new pulley went on without a hitch and I removed the tensioner to install the Alta tensioner stop. Replaced the tensioner (not an easy job), added a new Gatorback belt and released the tension. The new belt showed a full hole on the tensioner which was good. I replaced all the parts and bolts that had come off, reconnected the battery and all was well. All was well, but I was afraid to start the engine. After all the issues I had been through, I was sure the belt would come flying off with the pulley right behind as soon as the engine turned over.

I finally screwed up the courage to fire it up. It started and idled properly. I had left the hood up so I could carefully check the alignment of the pulley and belt with the engine running. To my shock and amazement, it looked perfect. I took a four mile trip right then and everything stayed together. The next day, I ventured out for a 60 mile trip and again everything stayed put.


The lessons learned from this:

If everything goes as it should, its not too tough a job as long as you have the right tools.

If using the one-piece puller, be sure the center bolt has 6 hash marks on the head.

The tensioner is a pain to reinstall unless you have tiny hands. With the one piece puller, you can remove the pulley with the tensioner still in place.

Follow the instructions posted on the forum.

Allow extra time for problems.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to document my experience.

 

Yep! Great reason why I paid (Randy Webb- Webb Motor Sports) to have this done! He had the job done in less than an hour! I realize I have an advantage living near his "shop", best money per Mod I've spent.

 

Anti-seize. It works. When I did my pulley, I didn't know about NAM, so I had to use the instructions Alta gave out.

 

The right tools are very important. I was a little leery of the one-sided pullers similar to the Craven one and I rented the Alta puller and it pulled out the pulley evenly and quickly. Of course that was just my experience and your results may vary.

It's a fun job to do although I'm wondering if you really didn't miss something because your post had not one single accolade regarding the performance after the upgrade!

 

Well, so far I have only driven it with my wife in the car. I plan to take it out today and find out how much it really helped.

 

now i know why i cant od it myself..

 

I can sympathize... on my pulley install, we ended up breaking the pulley puller completely, and had to SAW the pulley off of the s/c shaft. This also entailed using a hammer, chisel, and blowtorch.

 

I'm definitely interested in your experience with the 15% pulley. I hear it's definitely a must-have for pre-2005 cars like mine...

 

Geez! I don't feel so bad about it now. The final result (performance) was worth the troubles though.

 

AKI-

Do it. You won't be disappointed. The engine response is greatly enhanced and the whine of the supercharger is addictive. Its hard to keep your foot out of it!!!

 

Eh even if you do have a bad pulley install (mine took 11 hours of a day.), it's cool to do things like this because you learn about how to take things apart on your car. Now, I can unbolt the engine, lift it with a jack, and have the belt off or pulley out etc in no time. In fact due to some slippage, I had to remove the pulley the winter after I installed it and slather it in red loctite, and I had that engine up pretty quick. Do it a few times and you become an expert.

 

Wow, after reading that, I'm happy to have paid Way to do mine...

 

why remove the engine? i saw a neet way of doint it somewhere. the guys removed the passenger wheel and then the plastic wheel well trim and got to the pully straight from there. looked pretty simple, and if i do the install sometime, im going to try to do it that way first.

 

The engine has to be raised because the pulley is directly behind the thick engine bay frame. Take a look at your own car if you have a question of why your suggestion won't work. There is barely an inch of clearance and it is far easier to raise the engine. I've also seen alternate instructions, but they all involve more labor. Removing the passenger wheel well trim will allow you to easier replace the serpentine belt, but not the pulley.

 

I am all for do-it-yourself but I opted to pay to have someone with the right tools, experience as well as accountability do my pulley install.

 

I've got a pulley and a belt just waiting for me to install them. The one piece pullers sound nice, but I've heard of several stories of people having problems with them. Has anyone had this problem with the 2 piece puller tools, i.e. Alta style?

 

I rented the Alta and it worked flawlessly. There are probably people that have used the one-piece or one-sided pullers (Craven-speed style) without issue but of the people that have had issues removing the old pulley I've read more people have had issues with the one-piece design. The Alta-style crow's-foot pulley remover grips the pulley evenly and you have a lot of control when removing it. Granted even some people have had issues (especially with higher mileage cars), but I'd go with the Alta style if you can.

 

Thanks, that's what I thought. I plan on doing this job myself and don't want any surprises. Having the correct tools is always beneficial.

 

I used the Alta two-piece puller with no problems. In fact I think the free tool rental with a very good tool is one of the better reasons to buy the Alta pulley... the pulley itself is nothing special.

 

When you change your pulley to the 15% pulley, is there anything else that needs to be altered? My concern is the air/fuel ratio.

 

Some people have gone to a colder plug, but I haven't had any issues running the stock plugs. The air/fuel mixture is handled by the computer, so no worries there for minor mods like 15%, CAI & exhaust.

 

Same here - stock plugs and everything is fine.

 

Yes go with alta I rented the one piece style and slightly bented the pulley. Now Im waiting for the "right" pulley tool to be overnighted so I can get my car back on the road. I just hope the SC shaft is OK

I too am a big DIYer, but maybe I should have paid to have it installed.

 

I'll be ordering the alta if I can't find one to borrow or a used one. I'll be doing the job myself.

Has anyone seen the Dinan puller? I have a picture of it from an installation instruction sheet and it is unlike any I've seen. It's an all in one unit that completely encloses the pulley and includes a shoulder bolt that rides against the engine block to prevent rotation.

 

Here's a picture of the puller. Looks interesting. Looks like they combined the one piece design with the two piece design. It's an all in one puller that completely encircles the pulley. They sell it for $99. Has anyone used this?