No Serpentine Belt For A Run Down The Track... Ever Tried This???
 

If I Removed The Belt, Let The Car Cool Down, Pushed It All The Way To The Burnout Box, Then Started It, Moved Up To The Line, Took Off, Ran The 1/4 Mile, Drove To My Spot In The Pits, Shut It Down, Put The Belt Back On, Start It & Let It Run Till The Batt Was Charged, And It Cooled Down A Bit, Do You Think I Would Damage Anything???

How Much Time Do You Think It Would Be Worth???

Thanks

Man - I'm not an expert by any means. Are you sure your battery has enough juice to carry the electrical and ignition load.. If it does you're at risk to sizzle your motor - is that something you would risk to lower your ET?

My thoughts are if you want to lesson the load on the engine driving your alt, fan, and water pump.. I would suggest ridding yourself of the stock fan with a black magic flex-a-lite, adding undercarriage pullies to reduce the spin of water pump and alt. These adds will give you some additional HP to the flywheel and ensuring your engine doesn't sizzle going down the track.

undercarriage pullies to reduce the spin of water pump and alt.
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You mean underdrive pullies.
I have never tried it because I didn't think the time difference would be significant enough to go through all that trouble. My only question would be about the water pump not running. It would probably get pretty hot, posssibly before you finish but that would be my main concern. I believe the battery and all would be fine tho. If you try it, I would do it on a cool day. Just my $0.02
James:;)

that is a pretty old trick and it does work if you do exactly as you said and you have a very strong battery.

I tried it when I was running 13's and I actually slowed down 2 tenths and 2 mph, but my friends car picked up 2 mph. It all depends on your battery strength.


Also carry the belt in the car with you and put it back on the return road. Your car will be heating up fast if you try to drive back through the pits.

Same here, I picked up 2 mph and 2 tenths. Only did it once cause i didnt like the temp guage reading at the end of the run.:D It was only 230 and climbing fast.:eek:

I wouldn't try this. If the temp guage said 230 then it was was hotter around the cylinders. You'll get hot spots as there is no coolant circulation. IMO it's not worth the time vs rebuild much like running down 1 litre of oil.

If it works, great. If it doesn't get your $$$ out.

If you really want to free up the pump get an electric.

what if i made a short belt out of duct tape?
would it work?

i'd use chicken wire instead, that duct tape tends to melt when you get it hot, like when you fix exhaust leaks with it :D

90'5.0 Conv-
Actually, there is such a thing as undercarriage pullies, although that's not what they are called. When I worked for Bill Elliott, we installed the alternator underneath the car, next to the rear end. We ran a belt off the driveshaft, and it turned the alternator. Don't know if it did anything for performance, but it was one less belt to worry about up front (the oil pump is belt driven, and if another belt breaks, it often takes out any other belts near it, and if the oil pump belt got taken out, the engine would seize in less than one lap). That and the fact that it placed the alternator within 2 feet of the battery pleased us as well.

Take care,
-Chris

Pkrwud:
You never cease to amaze me with your responses:eek:

Maybe u could just buy a small belt and run only your water pump and alt just for the track.

also remember, the hotter your car runs, the less horsepower u have, so if your wateer pump is not turning, then down the track your losing horsepower. All my '66 turns is the water pump and alt, I installed an elec fan.

He's a smart motherfugger thats right!!!!!

One last thing I forgot to post, if u go with underdrive pulleys, you may get more free'd up horsepower, but unless u race all the time, your underdrive pulleys will give u problems on the road, your powersteering will be slower, car may run hotter becuase of less water runing through, and you alt may not completly charge your batt. So u need to decide mostly track, or mostly road.

I saw a couple guys doing the no belt thing at the track once. They would pull the belt off right before they staged and put it back on on the return road. I saw them do it several times and they swore it saved them a couple tenths, but it seems to me there are better ways to shave a couple tenths, ie electric fan, short belt, lose some weight etc.. I've always raced my car the same as I would on the street, with the possible exception of slicks (I run Drag Radials now). The guy in the Camaro SS next to me at a light ain't gonna wait for me to pop off my serpentine belt, and if I can't beat him with it I don't deserve to win. :D Just my $.02

thats exactly my point of view as well

but then again, i do take out my spare and all the crap out of my trunk anyway, which i wouldnt have a chance to do sitting next to a LS1 :cool:

the only time i pulled my belt completely off for a run was when i was soooo close to breaking into the 13s for the 1st time. i hit a few 14.0x's and wanted it BAD, so i pulled it, had a bad launch and still ran a 13.99@like 101mph. so it definately helps, but when i stopped on the return road to put it back on, even the coolant in the resevoir was boiling! so i vowed never to do it again... well maybe when i get to the 13.0x's :D