New project. 1987 Lamborghini Jalpa. There's no easy way out.

BrokenYugo wrote: I was gonna say McMaster but they jump straight from 86 to 92. Could you make a smaller idler pulley to use the shorter belt? You might try asking at the parts stores if Dayco 95178 is stocked at their hub, and just drive to the hub store and buy it.

My machinist is willing to shave the pulley I have a little bit, but that'll only work for a belt on the tight side. 90 teeth is probably going to work. 91 is going to be on the longer side, but better than the 92 i currently have.

Dayco 94061 also looks like it may fit. It's in mm, but the conversion is .3748 inches, which is basically .375 inches. That MIGHT work, it's 90 teeth.

.0002" is a rounding error for something like this.

I would think napa could get you in an assortment of belts quickly from their warehouse that you think might work and would take any back that don't.

In reply to corsepervita:

Dude you must be excited about your upcoming unplanned move to Arizona as a single man!

Here I was opening this thread looking to see some hp numbers not belt part numbers. Damn! That note you got about the engines is a nice touch tho. So close!

I've found 2 suppliers that can have the belts here tuesday, if i have them air shipped. I will talk to my boss on monday (assuming the dyno is ready to go on monday) to try and take tuesday off, otherwise it'll be tuesday evening. So long as these belts arrive, dyno day will be on. I'm frustrated as hell as my machinist has straight up told me that is the last day he will work on my engine, period. I understand that though, as he has put off moving to finish my motor, so understandably, life has to go on for him. I just want to make sure my engine runs before he takes off.

My machinist has agreed to try and shoot for tuesday. At this point, I am solely in the hands of whoever can get me belts by tuesday. Otherwise, I will end up having to hope everything is OK with the engine, and resort to street tuning and breaking it in. Which given the tolerances of this engine, has me very, very, very nervous. I'm confident in his work, and I know he does good work. But dyno time is "the moment" that it'll all come together. So I am a mixture of nervous and anxious as hell.

This isn't his fault though, we've had E36 M3 popping up constantly on this build. It seems like every time we make progress, some little thing ends up getting into the works and messing something else up.

I called NAPA, hoping they still had my alt core as we could run the old crapped out alt, but it's already gone. I'm kicking myself in the ass for that. But there is nothing I can do about it.

I'm just at a point where I have to just accept "this is what it is" and hope for the best.

Fingers crossed!

Well....poop.

If you can get some of the other belts a little early and/or your core back then perhaps you can figure it prior to Tuesday to weed out any further snags (if any) that exist.

On a positive note, the engine is starting to look complete.

Always a good reminder to refresh yourself on where you started.

That looks so nice. Man I hope you get the belt in time.

Try these guys out: SDP/SI.

I've used them to supply industrial drive products for work.

3/4 inch wide, 90 teeth, 3/8" Pitch with Fiberglass Cords Web-site shows 16 in stock

If that one up there doesn't work ask about these:

91 teeth, metric "L" pitch It's kinda narrow at 8mm width, but web site says they have 34 in stock.

Or this one with Kevlar Cords 24 in stock.

perhaps run two or three belts in tandem to get 16 or 24mm total width ?

It's not the end if the world, just chill. You can totally break in & tune on a chassis dyno. I almost prefer this as you have all the parts / systems in place that do not exist on an engine dyno. I've seen plenty of engines kick ass on an engine dyno & cough/puke/stumble once in a chassis.

Slow down, do it right - don't sweat the hiccups. Are you near Seattle by any chance? Is he happy to work with you on a chassis dyno - I've broken in and tuned dozens of megasquirt'd engines.

Kendall

Indy-Guy wrote: Try these guys out: SDP/SI. I've used them to supply industrial drive products for work. 3/4 inch wide, 90 teeth, 3/8" Pitch with Fiberglass Cords Web-site shows 16 in stock If that one up there doesn't work ask about these: 91 teeth, metric "L" pitch It's kinda narrow at 8mm width, but web site says they have 34 in stock. Or this one with Kevlar Cords 24 in stock. perhaps run two or three belts in tandem to get 16 or 24mm total width ?

I'll call and see if they can overnight these for me.

Kendall_Jones wrote: It's not the end if the world, just chill. You can totally break in & tune on a chassis dyno. I almost prefer this as you have all the parts / systems in place that do not exist on an engine dyno. I've seen plenty of engines kick ass on an engine dyno & cough/puke/stumble once in a chassis. Slow down, do it right - don't sweat the hiccups. Are you near Seattle by any chance? Is he happy to work with you on a chassis dyno - I've broken in and tuned dozens of megasquirt'd engines. Kendall

I try my best to remain calm. I have severe anxiety and depression i battle with, have for the last decade. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can deal with before such things overcome what coping mechanisms and medication with are overcome. Had a lot happening in life lately.

Today is a calm day. Worked on a friend's RX8 to take a break from the lambo and am currently playing some video games and enjoying a cigar and scotch to relax. So today is chill.

Man, this is the most thrilling thread Ive had the pleasure to read in a while. I know the anxiety and the setbacks can be crippling. Just know that you have dozens of guys across all corners of the map pulling for you man. I wish I could help in some way - the idea with the smaller pulley was what I came up with. Or, if you can make it fit, a taller pulley could help the bigger belts.

Either way, I think things will work out. If worse comes to worst, a chassis dyno is not the worst alternative. I bet the machinist is just as excited/invested in seeing this thing make fantastical European sports-car sounds as you are. We're all rooting for you guys!

I called the industrial belt place. They did not have a 91 tooth in stock, but have a 90. I also called Off-Road belts, and they had a 90 and a 91 in stock. All are ordered and being overnighted. O'Reiley's auto parts has another that'll be there tuesday for a 91.

All in all... 3 orders, overnighted. Now I need to find reduced size 8x1.25 nuts for the itbs because apparently regular nuts don't fit. Lol. We do have options though, worst case can use a socket head.

OK fess up...You really got this thing built and dyoned a month ago and are just stringing us along like a Discovery show right?

Cause if not, I don't see how you are holding it together as the deadline approaches for the big move.

I can see all the belt manufacturers looking at the orders over the last days and saying E36 M3 we need to start up that closed down factory in China. Three months from now there'll be thousands of belts sitting on the shelves just waiting for the next guy to rebuild a Jalpa.

Glad to see you have a selection. It's always amazing how 15 bucks of hardware can bring things to a grinding halt.

Here's to hoping things will go smoothly.

4cylndrfury wrote: Man, this is the most thrilling thread Ive had the pleasure to read in a while. I know the anxiety and the setbacks can be crippling. Just know that you have dozens of guys across all corners of the map pulling for you man. I wish I could help in some way - the idea with the smaller pulley was what I came up with. Or, if you can make it fit, a taller pulley could help the bigger belts. Either way, I think things will work out. If worse comes to worst, a chassis dyno is not the worst alternative. I bet the machinist is just as excited/invested in seeing this thing make fantastical European sports-car sounds as you are. We're all rooting for you guys!

I appreciate the support, and I am glad that other people have enjoyed this build. I've wanted to do this since I was just a kid. The anxiety and frustration will be worth it in the end. I'll tell you a story. I try to be a transparent person, and you have all been incredibly supportive. So I suppose it's story time.

I have been unable to chase anything but cars for most of my life, aside from paragliding, which has been pushed to the side during this build. It's like an addiction I simply can't get rid of. This car was a defining moment for me during my marriage, and a large reason I am no longer married.

Years ago, I bought this car and my wife and I said we'd talk about kids when it was done. Time moved on a bit, she decided she wanted to talk about it now. That essentially turned into, "If you can't finish this car soon, you should maybe sell it and we should have kids now because that's what I want. This is taking a long time and I don't really want to wait forever."

I never really wanted them deep down, though she was the one person I had met that took me from, "I definitely don't want them." to, "I would consider talking about it with you, because I love you." and when faced with the reality of giving up everything I'd worked for, I realized that my life would take a drastically different path. One that after thinking about over and over for a good week straight, realized I could not do. I think it took actually facing the decision for me to make the choice to say, "I don't think I can be that guy for you." Which was the hardest thing to do.

I told her I could not do that. She asked for a divorce. It was civil and amicable. I still loved her very much, but I knew that what she wanted out of a lifelong partner was not what I could give her, and she deserved more. She let me keep the house and the Lambo, since I paid for them. She didn't want to rake me through the coals, nor did I want to do that to her. She understood. We went our separate ways. She's now with someone who makes her very happy, which makes me happy to see.

For some they are just toys, a weekend project, and something to tinker with. For me they are a lifelong journey, and passion, and something that I simply cannot shove aside because they are everything I've wanted since I can remember. It's like the best of engineering, art, passion and automotive lust and love all at the same time.

It cost me someone I love dearly. She is happy now, and I have no bad feelings toward her, and still care. I got snipped after my divorce, because I realized I couldn't live that life. A permanent solution and finalized choice to alter the path I've taken.

Chasing this has cost me relationships, my marriage, and a very lonely path along the way. But there is nothing I would rather do, than chase the things in life that I hold dear to me. Life is too short to do otherwise, and my actions and path have had consequences. The end result though is the only way at the end of the day I can find myself happy.

I would not have it any other way.

Stampie wrote: I can see all the belt manufacturers looking at the orders over the last days and saying E36 M3 we need to start up that closed down factory in China. Three months from now there'll be thousands of belts sitting on the shelves just waiting for the next guy to rebuild a Jalpa.

I spent the last couple of poops browsing the internet for 90 tooth .375 pitch belts to see if I could suggest anything.

That's the first time in a long time my googlefu has let me down.

The truly truly TRULY sucky thing about this whole episode is how a 35-page (when it's done) multi-year death march saga will be reduced in the future to one lousy sentence.

"...Then I rebuilt the motor, which was a huge pain in the ass."

Good for you for realizing what is important to you in life, and being up front about it. When I hear people talking about feeling "trapped" in a relationship, or talking about the family as a boat anchor, or with resentment for making one give up on cherished hobbies, it always makes me sad. It seems like life is always a set of compromises, but better to arrive at a set of compromises that don't make you feel like you are giving up a big part of who you are.

I'm also excited to see this engine build really hitting the home stretch!

The0retical wrote:

Stampie wrote: I can see all the belt manufacturers looking at the orders over the last days and saying E36 M3 we need to start up that closed down factory in China. Three months from now there'll be thousands of belts sitting on the shelves just waiting for the next guy to rebuild a Jalpa.

I spent the last couple of poops browsing the internet for 90 tooth .375 pitch belts to see if I could suggest anything. That's the first time in a long time my googlefu has let me down.

Well, with 3 on the way, I think we should be good. I've called every place I can that I ordered them to verify UPS and Fedex have picked them up. So.... fingers crossed.

I got the hardware we need for the ITBs. We are going to adjust them and get them ready to be sync'd. I'll be hooking up the megasquirt and fuel system for the machinist. Tonight is assembly night. I may or may not live stream it. I'll most certainly live stream the dyno. But you guys and gals may find it incredibly boring to see someone hooking up things on a dyno instead of running it.