77 454 C20 with chronic alt belt issues

[jdpavek]

I have a short water pump 454, power steering but no ac. I put a heavy duty alternator on, which seems to fit the bracket and all just fine. However, I keep getting worn shredded alternator belts thrown. I found some advice on aligning the pulleys but also came across a reference to hybrid pulley system that GM ran on some 454's in the 80's. The way I understood it, it seems as if the crank pulley has two sheaves, one with a v-belt for the power steering and one serpentine for the alternator. Does anyone know if this is true? Does anyone know, or care to guess, if I can convert to such a hybrid system? I have looked at March Performance conversion kits but for a short water pump 454, they only offer a single belt system that would cost about $650.

More than anything, I am looking for reliability. Is there general agreement that a serpentine system is hands down the most reliable?

Any comments, advice, like experiences, etc. would be appreciated.
Thank you very much.
--jd

[cableguy0]

The most likely cause for throwing a belt is improper pulley alignment. You need to closely check and make sure the pulleys arent misaligned even a little bit. Also the improper length belt will cause the same issues. You could always go to the junkyard and pull all the brackets from the newer engine but you will need everything from that engine.

[jdpavek]

I agree, CableGuy, and this site has a great tutorial on alignment titled "V Belt pulley alignment 101", which I will use if I don't go the serpentine route. Do you think it is true that a serpentine belt is more forgiving to misalignment and more reliable?
Thanks.
--jd

[cableguy0]

None are forgiving to misalignment. The serp belts are more reliable and last longer but no matter what belt is on there if theres pulley alignment issues theres gonna be problems.