How can I remove Factory Air Conditioning from a 1965 Mopar Big Block

Question

I have a 1965 Mopar 383 Big Block with factory air conditioning. I would like to remove the air conditioning from the engine, including the A/C pump. Unfortunately, the belts for the accessories are not laid out in such a way that I can simply remove the pump and reroute the belts.

In the A/C configuration, the alternator and A/C pump are on the same double belt. Then the water pump is on its own belt with a tensioner pulley, and the power steering pump is on its own belt with no tensioner.

In the non-A/C configuration, the water pump and the alternator are on the same belt with no tensioner, and the power steering pump remains on its own, also with no tensioner.

The problem with converting is that, obviously, the alternator and water pump pulleys are not on the same plane! I am not sure what needs to change to get them to line up. I suspect that I need some combination of the following:

• Alternator bracket
• Water pump housing
• Water pump pulley

But I'm not sure. Could someone who is familiar with the two engine configurations please help me understand what I need to change to get the alternator and water pump to be on the same belt?

Answer 1

I eventually discovered there are basically two ways to do this. One is to use the part FossilizedCarlos mentioned, but you must also get an alternator spacer set, or else the brackets do not help much. I had previously purchased the bracket set but couldn't figure out how it was supposed to help. The spacer set is the missing link, although they are hard to find.

The other option, which is what I ended up doing, was just having a friend make me a solid spacer which I then mounted the w/ AC alternator bracket onto. It is essentially just a 2" thick piece of steel with 3 holes drilled in the same pattern as the bracket. It's not the lightest weight solution, but it works fine.

Answer 2

Would something like this(1965-67 MOPAR BIG BLOCK W/O AC ALTERNATOR BRACKET SET) work?

Answer 3

If you don't mind the not-so-stock look, you could step up to a serpentine system (like this one from March Performance Pulleys). This would bring your drive system into the 21st century, look better, work better, and free up some horsepower. Having three belts drive your accessories has a lot of parasitic draw on the engine. Each pulley which pushes a belt and shares multiple belts is eating up your performance. Having a single belt is just plain more efficient. It works better because the multiple v's of a serpentine belt have more surface area than a single v-belt, allowing it to grip better. The serpentine system also utilizes a tensioner pulley which allows the belt to have Goldie Locks tension (not too tight, not too loose, but just right). While it is a bit of money up front, having the serpentine system would give you piece of mind all those belts you have now can in no way give you. This answer is just here as an alternative.