Okay, so here goes...

I have a 1977 Camaro, inline 6-Cyl that was sitting in my back yard for about three years, and I am just now putting it back on the road.

So far, I have not had a whole lot of issues with it, but at the moment I cannot seem to get the power steering pump belt tight enough. The damn thing just keeps flying off, no matter how tight I can get it by hand. I was wondering if anybody else has had this issue, and if so, any suggestions as to how I can get it tight enough so it won't fly? I still need to find a new pulley, since the old one on the car is slightly bent.

Thanks a ton!

 

You'll never get it tight enough by hand, and if it's bent it will fly off anyway. You need to start by changing the pulley first, then use a pry bar to get tension on the pump while you tighten down the adjustments to hold tension.

 

be carful not to pry against the tin resevoir of the pump !!!
try to get your bar to push on the bracket of the pump for less chance of making a hole in your pump.
some times you can use channel lock pliers to pull the pump up buy holding the furthest both from the crankshaft and the bracket.
and for sure if your pulley is bent or even gets out of line of the other pulleys it can kick of the belt with all the power in that 6.
you can play with how far your your pump pulley is pressed on with the tool to get it in line if you need to.
also be sure you have all the brackets to keep th pump steady at all times.

finally ... be sure all the pulleys that two belts might use the same two pulleys are both on the same hight on both pulleys ( this will also cause constant belt squeel )

 

I simply put a piece of wood between my prybar and the pump body when tensioning. It doesn't take much to protect the housing.

 

well thank you i will still need to wait a few days on the pulley, it was slightly dingged ( how that happened i dont know cause it looked like someone nailed it with a hammer) some careful adjustment got it closer to how it should be for now
turned out they gave me the wrong belt of all things bout an inch too long ....
went to a different auto store and got the right belt , a better Goodyear belt...
also found a place to pry the bracket with a short breaker bar and not hit the tin housing... why cant they have a remote tank type ps pump

I am thinking a pair of rod ends and a connecting nut and some all thread and jam nuts would make a bit better tensioner/ adjuster if i can find good place to mount it which seems to work out because next to the holding bolt is another 9/16 headed bolt i could use then just weld a small tab onto the PS bracket ...
anyone got any thoughts on this?

 

Yes, a couple heim joints and a threaded rod inbetween would adjust easier and better. Factories don't use them because it's too expensive. I changed mine to this setup, but I'm still refining it to make it work well. I just bought a second bracket to weld another tab on, so I hope to perfect it soon.
Not a great picture, but you can see it here:

 

wow that looks about what i was thinking good to know i am not the only one to think of that one thanks for the info..