By
Dan Ward, Photography by Marcel Venable
Last month, we showed you how easy it was to install a 430hp, smog-legal GM Performance Parts E-Rod engine in a pre-’96 truck. This month, we’re building upon that solid foundation and adding the necessary components to make it ready to run, all while dressing it up in the process. Eddie Motorsports (EMS) recently launched its new S-Drive billet pulley and serpentine belt setup for LS engines, and we felt this was a perfect time to get our E-Rod engine up and going. Out of the crate, the GM Performance Part’s E-Rod comes with a water pump installed and a crank pulley, but it’s still missing an alternator, power steering pump, A/C compressor, and tensioner. Thankfully, opening the Eddie Motorsport’s box filled all of our needs with top-shelf components like an Edelbrock water pump, Sanden A/C compressor, Maval power steering pump, Powermaster alternator, and Gates tensioner with belt. Another perk to the Eddie Motorsports kit is its compact design, which is perfect for trucks with cramped engine compartments, or for show trucks that want a clean, simple look. Made in America out of 6061-T6 billet aluminum, this kit makes us proud to buy and install. Our square-body Chevy truck was still at PPC Customs, in Clovis, California, and it made perfect sense for them to install the S-Drive kit while we took the pics. If you’re in the market for a serpentine belt setup, check out Eddie Motorsports for all of their applications.
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1. When we left off with our E-Rod engine install last month, we still needed a power stee
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2. To get the install going, we first needed to remove the original crate engine water pum
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3. After busting loose the 24mm bolt holding the crank pulley/harmonic balancer to the cra
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4. To keep the kit looking as nice as possible, EMS uses double-ended studs to secure the
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5. The new Edelbrock high-flow water pump was ready to be installed along with the billet
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6. Moving to the passenger-side of the water pump, the A/C bracket was secured with M8 cap
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7. Back over on the driver-side, the polished Powermaster 105-amp alternator was bolted on
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8. A quick tip we learned was finger tightening the brackets until the part for the bracke
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9. Check out our progress so far, the E-Rod sure is starting to look like a show-ready, ho
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10. Using holes already in place on the block, we finder-tightened the bolts for the power
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11. We then inserted the power steering pump and tightened all of the bolts. EMS also sell
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12. With the new Gates tensioner in place, we could route the new Gates belt around the pu
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13. Keeping things looking their best, EMS also included a billet tensioner cover. This ki
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14. Bolted on and looking great, the machined finish looks great, and we can now proudly s
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15. As we promised, we took our completed E-Rod-equipped sqaure body to the chassis dyno w
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