March Performance Pulleys for FE

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Hi Guys:

I have been toying with the idea of replacing my current 428 pulleys with the March Performance pulleys. My current pulleys are dark brown adonized billet pulleys as typical from DCE. At present here are the outside (outer edge of Pulley) diameters of my current 3 pulley set.

Crank 3 bolt, one grove - 6" (fits outside of damper)
Water Pump, 4 bolt one grove - 7" (has some Moroso shims)
Alternator, One nut one grove - 2 11/16"

From the looks of my pulley set it is an underdrive (read large) waterpump set, thus maximizing HP at the expense of lower water flow. I am putting ~420 HP at the rear wheels on a chasis dyno with my current setup.

Now, it appears MARCH has two sets of pulleys...

the 1910 Set (Common) which is their "Performance Set" at 5 1/2" crank 6 3/4" water pump and 2 11/16" alternator.

March also has a less common (read special order) 1905 set designed for higher water flow with all pulleys equal with the exception of the water pump pulley, it being only 6" on the 1905 for faster water pump speeds and thus a loss of HP to drive the water pump. I think I would like this set to keep the engine cooler? Your thoughts on this?

Does anyone have experience with either of these two sets of pulleys?

Also, is the diameter that March gives the Outside diameter or the inside grove diameter?

Thanks in Advance.

[CJ428CJ]

I'm running the standard 1910 set. I don't see a need to go with the 1905 set unless you're having an overheating problem and you really need that extra waterflow.

The diameter that March specifies is the outside diameter.

Chris

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Chris:
Thanks so much for the feedback on the 1910 set, also the clarification of the March size being the OD.

Did your pulleys line up well or did you have to deploy any shims to align the V groves?

Thanks.

[Chaplin]

Art-
I have the 1910s also. They look great and have had no problem at all.

The grooves on the waterpump and crank pulley lined up perfectly, but I think I had to shim out the alternator slightly (maybe one washer?) to get the alternator to line up correctly.

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Thanks Chaplin, I think I will order them from Jeg's tomorrow.
BTW, Chaplin, do you have a turkey pan on your carb? If so how is it running?

[joea]

Isn't the standard set underdrive? I have them...I believe they are. THis would mean less flow than stock pulleys

[Chaplin]

Art-
At the moment, I don't have the turkey pan on. I took it off becuase I was doing a lot of carb tuning and it is impossible to play with the carb with the pan on. Then I decided to get a new carb, which I put on a couple weeks ago, and have left the turkey pan off b/c I'm going to take the car to a chassis dyno in a week or two to tune the new carb properly. Before I go to the chassis dyno I am going to buy a full size air filter and conduct a little experiment: I'm going to run it on the dyno with the current air filter (small K&N with xtreme top that fits in the turkey pan) and see what the power and air/fuel mixture is and then run it with a full size filter and what it does. My nose tells me that the motor runs much richer with the small filter, but the dyno will be the final judge.

I'll let you know how it goes. I do like the look of the turkey pan though.

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Originally posted by joea


Isn't the standard set underdrive? I have them...I believe they are. THis would mean less flow than stock pulleys

You know, that is a darned good question Joe. I frankly do not know what the diameters were for a "standard" 3 pulley set for the 427 or 428 actually were.

In any case, it appears I was really under-driving my water pump based on the size pulley there. No concern though, never had an overheating problem. The engine is not running hot or lean.

Chaplin:

Yes, I agree with you trying to find out which air filter combo will give you the best volumetric efficiency. I would start with the big air filter sans pan, then switch to the small k&N sans pan, then the K&N with Xstream top sans pan then finally, pull the carb, put on the pan and do the K&N again.

Thanks for your information guys.
Appreciated Much.

[427 S/O]

I wanted to run twin belts and they did not (at that time) have a twin underdrive pulley for the ford alt., after a bit of research they said a buick underdrive alt. pulley would work. And it did.

[CJ428CJ]

Art, my pulleys all lined up great with no need to do any special shimming.

Chaplin, I'm dieing to hear the results of your dyno experiment. Be sure to keep us posted.

Chris

[rritchey]

Guys,

Joea is right, the 1910 set is the "performance" set from March, which is in fact an underdrive set. They do offer a "high water flow" set, which includes a different diameter water pump pulley to get back to the stock ratio. If you ordered from Summit or Jegs and got the ones that were in stock, you are currently underdriving the accessories. They do not stock the other set.

[Chaplin]

Even with the 1910s, I have absolutely no problems with the motor running hot. I run a 180 t-stat, and I don't think my water temp has ever gone over 190.

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Thanks Guys, I just ordered the 1910 set from Jegs yesterday along with a set of shims just in case I had to do some alignment adjustments. I also ordeded a new regulator-less (external regulator) 80 Amp polished and chromed alternator as well. My current alternator is 12+ years old and even though it does work well, I figured that a refresh was due. I will keep it as a spare (funny how those spares accumulate eh?)

After I get the pulleys installed with the new alternator, I think I will tackle the turkey pan installation.