Date:         Sun, 5 Aug 2018 12:07:54 -0700
Reply-To:     Steve Williams <sbw@SBW.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Williams <sbw@SBW.ORG>
Subject:      Not Exact Alt/PS Belts in a Pinch?
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How important is it to use the exact-fit alternator/water pump and power
steering belts available from Bus Depot, GoWesty, and others, just to
get back on the road for now? For my '84 Vanagon (Gas) the trusted
sources say Continental belts measuring:

10x1100 for Alt/Water

10x1075 for PS

My van threw the belts here in Fairmont, Minnesota. The local O'Reilly
and NAPA stores have Gates belts recommended by their database for this
vehicle, but they're both slightly over-long, by like 20mm.

I'd like to get back on the road asap, if I'm not taking a chance
running the Gates belts about 1,900 miles back to Santa Cruz. Otherwise,
I'll try to get Bus Depot to overnight the Continental belts, but that'd
probably mean I'd be here at least two more days. (Sigh.)

What about Gates belts for now, and overnight the exact belts to
somewhere 500-1,000 miles along the route?

Of course, if I need a water pump, power steering pump, alternator, or
something more serious, I'll be here awhile anyway. I stopped as soon as
the red lights came on, so I hope the heads are good.

Thanks.

(I posted this to TheSamba, too.  I feel a little bad about that, but I
haven't seen any messages from gerry.vanagon.com for a few days, so I
worry this won't get distributed.)