TR4/4A Crankshaft pulley recommendations: One piece alloy, two-piece steel, wide, narrow...?

[Popeye]

All,

As I rebuild my TR4A engine (> TR4/4A - Engine Assembly by a rookie (me!) <), one half of my front pulley is bent. (Believe this happened during disassembly, as it was reasonably straight previously.)

My intent is to keep things stock as much as practical, for example I plan on fitting the OEM generator.

The replacement steel pulley is backordered at TRF, same at other suppliers, including the UK ones.

Should I:
1. Wait for the parts to arrive? I figure I have about three months before I can start the engine (and get my carbs back from Joe Curto).
2. Replace with a one-piece alloy? BPNW and Rimmer both have single piece options. If I replace with alloy, do I go with "narrow" or "wide belt?

Rimmer part numbers
107252ALLOY - Crank pulley - Narrow Belt - Undamped > Crank Pulley - Narrow Belt - Undamped - Alloy - 107252ALLOY | Rimmer Bros <
107252X - Crank pulley - Wide Belt - Alloy > Crank Pulley - Wide Belt - Alloy - 107252X | Rimmer Bros <
110023ASSY - Crankshaft Pulley - 1 Piece - Alloy > Crankshaft Pulley - 1 Piece - Alloy - 110023ASSY | Rimmer Bros <

BPNW part numbers
107252AN - alloy pulley narrow > British Parts Northwest Alloy Crankshaft Pulley Narrow Belt Alloy TR3 to TR4A <
107252AW - alloy pulley wide > British Parts Northwest Alloy Crankshaft Pulley Wide Belt Alloy TR3 to TR4A <


What is the group consensus on pulleys?

Thanks!

 

[DrEntropy]

Bent pulleys introduce premature belt wear and vibration. Water pump and generator will "feel" it as well. As for the width, what are the other pulleys? Go with what belt width fits those. And if the back ordered one shows up, an easy swap.

 

[malbaby]

Depends on if you have considered deleting the tractor fan and replacing with a thermo fan set up.

 

[Popeye]

Depends on if you have considered deleting the tractor fan and replacing with a thermo fan set up.

Sticking with stock… for now. The metal fan is quaint, primitive even, but I am a sucker for originality.

 

[sp53]

I would go stock with the pulleys and belt. Some of beauty in these are cars is there vintage originality. I would even consider filling the pits in your hub with epoxy and then sand the hub by hand until smooth if it is not too far gone. Even the best of these cars leave their small marking on the drive way from various spots. They are not house broken. Do the best you can without spending crazy money on modifications and drive the car. Heck the stock maintenance books like those fluids checked.

steve

 

[Stevenry]

I bent half of my original style steel one replacing a cam shaft and replaced with the steel pulley. It seems maybe I was able to buy just the half I bent, but I could be wrong. But anyway, the point of this reply is that if you have had a reason to find exact top dead center before replacing the pulley, like timing the cam maybe, leave the engine at top dead center to put the pulley back on to check that the hole in the pulley is accurate. Mine was about 4 degrees off, so I filed notches in the pulley and painted them. I static timed with the corrected marks, and the car fires the second I hit the starter with a little choke and no gas, even after a couple weeks of rain, just like it’s supposed to.

Steve

 

[sp53]

I have not seen any pulleys on ebay lately, but they are out there. Marv Gruber on the forum might have one for sale and there are others in the classified section on the forum. I would also watch for a stock tropical fan on eBay or Craigslist. I guess Macey sells a new type tropical fan. The old fans do not cool well in traffic.

steve

 

[TFB]

I love looking at the cars restored to original,but wanting a driver with reliabilty I went the other route which was easy since not only was my Crank hub bad but the fan,radiator, generator and starter all needed rebuild or replacement.
So I went with the moss thin belt dampened pulley fan eliminator,a wizard elec.fan combo. alternator and hi torque starter.
8yrs and 20k of trouble free driving.
BTW it was all the great info and experts on this site that helped my decisions.
Have fun
Tom

 

[Popeye]

I have not seen any pulleys on ebay lately, but they are out there. Marv Gruber on the forum might have one for sale and there are others in the classified section on the forum. I would also watch for a stock tropical fan on eBay or Craigslist. I guess Macey sells a new type tropical fan. The old fans do not cool well in traffic.

steve

First off, thank you all for your input and replies.

I had a conversation yesterday evening with Scott Harper at Team Triumph. He has the OEM steel pulley, and it is on its way to me. Yay!

I had also reached out to Marv yesterday (and later let him know I had found the part). Steve, thank you for the suggestion.

For the record, the kind folks at Rimmer tell me parts 107252X and 110023ASSY are identical (albeit differently priced). They are an alloy pulley manufactured by Bastuck.

 

[Popeye]

I love looking at the cars restored to original,but wanting a driver with reliabilty I went the other route which was easy since not only was my Crank hub bad but the fan,radiator, generator and starter all needed rebuild or replacement.
So I went with the moss thin belt dampened pulley fan eliminator,a wizard elec.fan combo. alternator and hi torque starter.
8yrs and 20k of trouble free driving.
BTW it was all the great info and experts on this site that helped my decisions.
Have fun
Tom

I may yet change to better cooling... I'm starting with stock, but still need to decide on my radiator: (1) re-core, (2) replace with OEM, or (3) replace with aluminum. Unfortunately I had the original radiator cleaned and pressure tested by a radiator shop - and then poked a hole in it when removing a garage door. Argh!!

 

[TFB]

The only problem with my wizard setup was the fan relay failed a few weeks ago..I could have popped in any 5pin relay but wanted the oriiginal replacement so I drove for a week with no fan.80 and 90 temps no problem ,just had to avoid stop and go traffic.
I dont get when lots of time and money is spent to rebuild motor and than connect to a 60yr old radiator because it doesnt leak.At least you had leaked checked.but cleaned can mean different things.If it was dissasembled,rodded out to shiny inside tubes that is way different than trowing in clean tank for awhile.
If you go option 1,2(new oem) or 3,poking that hole may have been actually good luck.
Tom

 

[Popeye]

If you go option 1,2(new oem) or 3,poking that hole may have been actually good luck.
Tom

 

[DrEntropy]

I understand the desire for originality, but down here the humidity percentage level usually matches the temperature numbers. I converted the MGB to an aluminum radiator and put a "pusher" electric fan on it, using a relay. have both a thermocouple switch on the rad and an over-ride switch in the car. Now July in traffic is not a problem. Best bit of "modernization" on the car.