s2000Junky

When my idler/tension pulley went out I went to my local parts store and had them look up a company that makes these. I think I ended up ordering a slightly larger 4" from Statco? I forget the brand as its been a long time, but point being, these can be had without going through CT. Likely the same pulley, just a lot more expensive going through CT. The 4" worked better anyway, spreading out the tension over the belt more then the 3". They are the same plastic pulley with bearings in them, just bring your old one in to measure the bolt hole that runs through the bearing and the width/size of the pulley and specify if you want it with or without side lip to retain the belt position better. Id opt for the non lip like what comes with the CT kit so it can float a little bit and not risk getting chewed up if there is slight misalignments on your blower and crank pulley.

FuzzyRuttin

Good to know. Thanks, I think I will try that avenue.

Luke, you taking this all in? Not a complete thread-jack, it's all pertinent!

EOE

uhohitzluke

No worries lol. My novi 1200 kit only has about 200 miles on it so far, so it's pretty fresh. I don't think any of the bushings are worn out. Still waiting to get some free time to check out my issue... I might end up just bending the front portion of the cross beam to clear, although it's not ideal.

Regarding CT-Engineering, good luck. It took me an entire year to receive my kit from them after ordering it. It was like pulling teeth in order to get any status updates, which resulted only in shallow excuses. I heard from my tuner that they downsized by quite a bit and Nate wears a lot of hats, so he's kind of a one man show there.

E4RTH WORM JIM

uhohitzluke

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually took the blower off today to inspect the bushings in the mounting plate, try the alternator bracket re-clocking, etc. Here's what I've concluded:
1) The bushings look fine & don't show any signs that it was the culprit.
2) Alternator bracket re-clocking to get some vertical adjustment on the driver side of the mounting plate helped slightly, but it doesn't give enough adjustment to clear the cross beam enough, imo. Also, if you clock it counterclockwise too much, you might have an issue with the other bolts for the mounting plate lining up with the VTEC mounting block.
3) The addition of the spoon rigid collars is what is causing this. I'm thinking that the stock CTSC kit has it where the blower barely clears the cross beam & anything else to disturb this, no matter how small (like erm, spoon rigid collars), will cause an interference under certain conditions where the engine is loaded and shifted to the front, such as hard braking or quickly letting off the gas after accelerating.

My solution to all this was to simply bend the front portion of the cross beam forward to the clear the blower. While not ideal, I already did that on the aft portion of the beam to clear the oil drain line, so why not commit lol. If any of you are considering the CTSC kit + spoon rigid collars, be wary of this. The spoon rigid collars will lower the subframe by the same thickness of the collar, thus lowering the engine & blower with it. Note that I have brand new OEM engine mounts, so this problem might be worse for those who have used, worn, saggy, etc. engine mounts.

s2000Junky

^^^ Makes sense. Yes there isn't much clearance to start with.

FuzzyRuttin

Just to close the loop on my half-hijack, Advanced Auto Parts seemed to have a good selection of plastic pulleys on the shelf. Picked this one up for $18 (vs $60 from CT). It's 1/2" wider in diameter at 3.5". Should work fine.

s2000Junky

^^^ That's what i did as well when mine burned up as I mentioned previously. I went to a even larger 4" pulley if I recall. Keep in mind this will have an effect on your adjustment throw and belt length you may use.