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Serpentine Conversion Kits
Pontiac V8 Serpentine Conversion Kits
Keep Your Accessories — Serpentine Conversion Kits for Pontiac V8s
A serpentine conversion kit is the pulley-and-bracket half of the job. You keep the alternator, power steering pump and compressor already on the engine and buy only the crank, water pump and accessory pulleys, the brackets that reposition them and the tensioner that holds the single belt. It is the cheaper route to a Pontiac V8 serpentine drive when your accessories are already good.
Butler stocks March Ultra front-mount and mid-mount bracket kits, CVF 8-rib conversion kits in alternator only, plus power steering and full A/C versions, and Butler's own low-mount alternator relocation kits.
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More About Serpentine Conversion Kits
1. Conversion kit or all inclusive system
The two categories look alike in photos and are not the same purchase. An all inclusive system arrives with a new alternator, compressor, pump and water pump. A conversion kit is brackets, pulleys, idlers and tensioning hardware only, and it assumes the accessories bolted to your engine are the ones the brackets were drawn around.
| Buy a conversion kit when | your alternator, Saginaw pump and compressor are healthy and correct for the year, and you only want the belt and the look changed. |
| Buy an all inclusive system when | the accessories are tired, mismatched or missing, or you are building a fresh engine with nothing on the front of it yet. |
2. March Ultra: front mount or mid mount
March offers the Ultra layout two ways for Pontiac 326 through 455 engines, and the difference is where the accessories sit relative to the heads.
| Ultra front mount pulley and bracket kit | crank pulley, water pump pulley and nose cover, alternator pulley with fan and nose cover, and an alternator bracket with a stainless steel tensioner. The power steering add-on brings the pump bracket and pulley, front and rear mounting brackets and an idler with cover. The A/C version adds the clutch cover, front and rear compressor brackets, a stainless tensioning rod and dual idlers. |
| Ultra mid mount conversion bracket kit | a separate alternator bracket for a GM 10si, paired with a mid-mount air conditioning and power steering bracket. The power steering bracket here is cut for the 1966 to 1974 Saginaw keyway pump, and the A/C version adds a bracket, idler and nose cover for the Sanden 7176 compressor. |
Belt lengths differ by layout. The mid mount runs 42 inches plus 47.5 inches without A/C and 42 inches plus 65 inches with it. The front mount alternator and water pump kit uses a 49.5 inch belt, and the A/C version runs 95.5 to 96 inches.
3. CVF 8-rib conversion kits
CVF builds this system on an 8-rib belt rather than the usual 6-rib, which increases grip and reduces slip, and all three versions include the premium 8-rib belt in the box.
| Alternator only | water pump, crank and alternator pulleys, alternator bracket and a universal alternator fan. The simplest way off a multi-belt front end. |
| Power steering and alternator | adds a keyway power steering pulley, an idler and a combined power steering and alternator bracket. Both GM and Pontiac reservoir orientations work. |
| A/C, power steering and alternator | adds a Sanden compressor bracket and a third idler. Optional Saginaw P series pump with a 5/8 inch keyway shaft, optional chrome Sanden style compressor with an 8-rib pulley, and an optional 100 or 140 amp alternator if yours is not worth keeping. |
CVF calls out that these may not work with some older power steering pumps, so identify the pump on the car before ordering the power steering versions.
4. Butler low-mount alternator relocation kits
Butler assembles two kits for the builder who wants a serpentine crank pulley and the alternator dropped to a low mount rather than a full front end change. Both bundle a March crank pulley, a serpentine alternator pulley, a GM alternator fan, the relocation bracket, hardware and belt. One version is built for an electric water pump; the other is for a mechanical pump on the 1969 1/2 and later 4.5 inch water pump and includes the water pump pulley and cover.
5. What the kit assumes about your engine
Every kit on this page shares the same two hard requirements, and one hose detail catches people out.
| Balancer | 1968 and newer, four-bolt pattern, with no cast V-groove. |
| Water pump | 1969 and newer 11-bolt cover with the taller 4.5 inch pump. CVF notes 1969 was a transition year, so verify rather than assume. |
| Power steering pump type | keyed pumps were used through 1976 and press fit pumps from 1977 on. March also warns that on 1971 to 1974 cars the return hose clocking will not be as original, though it works in the application. |
Measure the water pump from the mounting flange to the block before you order anything on this page. That one dimension decides whether you are shopping a conversion kit or a timing cover conversion first.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.