[Shotimes] Underdrive Pulleys WAS: Valve lash done...

[Josh Salaets]

> An example are the
> underdrive pulleys. These only add a bit of torque throughout the range,
and
> only maybe 5 HP at the peak, but they can be readily felt throughout the
> entire rpm range.

So what is the general consensus on underdrive pulleys for our cars?  I've
heard some people are worried it can create premature bearing failures on
our motors.  I know the Countour crowd is REAL paranoid about this, as they
have been seizing motors in their SVTs on regular basis.  Some think it
could be the aftermarket headers that travel REALLY close to the oil pan and
lose the OEM heat shielding, while others think it is the crank pulleys.

Ford redesigned the crank pulley to a dual mode dampener for the Mondeo in
Europe in 2000, and a lot of the guys are putting this on their cars,
thinking maybe the standard pulley causes crank whip and takes out the
bearings.  This dmd pulley is a direct bolt-on, but is slightly heavier that
stock, but there's many guys that are dumping their underdrive pulleys for
this unit.  If anything, it makes a HUGE difference in the smoothness of
their engines at higher RPMs.  I always thought their motors were
silky-smooth before, but we installed one of these in a guys car last
weekend, and you could DEFINITELY tell a difference - it seriously made the
Contour BMW inline-6 smooth!  It even felt like it wanted to rev easier.
Really amazing how something as simple as a crank pulley can make this much
difference, and maybe there's some truth to their theory.  There hasn't been
a problem with Mondeos siezing up, and they use the exact same motor!

I have been considering underdrive pulleys for the SHO, but now I am VERY
paranoid after hearing all the horror stories from the Contour guys, and a
few rumors of the underdrive pulleys damaging our cars.

Josh Salaets
95 SHO MTX (See it here: www.cardomain.com/id/sh0gun)
85 Omni GLH-T (Autocrosser)
Eugene, OR