Toddy415 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 So has anyone actually had success running a gilmer drive setup? Looks like most issues are from an over tightened belt or bad alignment. By the looks most people hate them. Is this hate from people that have had poor setups or are they actually shit? Let me know if you have had a setup that has lasted and worked well. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePog Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 I think the hate is when they are put on for aesthetic/noise reasons rather than practical ones. I can understand it if you need to run a supercharger without slippage, or the revs are getting so high that v belts will slip. I imagine they could apply a lot of stress to components if not correctly tensioned as well.. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 I've been involved with toothed belt drives mainly as primary drives on bikes. Alignment and tension are the critical things. Sizing for the HP put through them is also important. Bigger is usually better. Very easy to over tension them.. I've also done supercharger drives on bike engines - bikes and TQ's. There you need a bit of slippage. Back off at high revs and the blower inertia will pull the end off the crank if it can't slip. I've come round to using polyvee belts for blowers now. They've worked for me. Polyvee I've used to 13000 crank rpm. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Gilmers are only ever acceptable when used on a 4k with a 3/4 race cam. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cletus Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 4 hours ago, ThePog said: I think the hate is when they are put on for aesthetic/noise reasons rather than practical ones. I can understand it if you need to run a supercharger without slippage, or the revs are getting so high that v belts will slip. I imagine they could apply a lot of stress to components if not correctly tensioned as well.. This. I drove a 1uz powered hiace once that had a $$$ custom gilmer drive on it. After about 40 seconds on the motorway I absolutely hated it , was extremely loud and I couldn't understand why someone would spend so much money making something worse on something that toyota made so well in the first place A guy I know who specializes in rotaries has fixed a few cars because of them, heaps of toasted alternator bearings and even crank bearings that have got worn from being cranked up to 11 million tightness 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 But if they arent pinging gillies tight, then they wont be loud, and people wont know you're cool! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy415 Posted September 1, 2021 Author Share Posted September 1, 2021 Aside from everyone's opinions on weather they sound shit or not or if they are even needed or not. Sounds like the main issue is people over tensioning them for the sound. Can you set them up to not throw and chew out belts? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizzl Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 Of course.. Just make sure all of the pulleys line up straight.. I have a gillie kit minus the belt that I removed from my 12a..going back to v belt to get it all dialled. Then once I start doing some events it'll get a fresh gillie kit. But not over tightened. I've found with rotaries with a single v belt, you can get water pump slippage and overheating. A twin v belt would be ideal and much cheaper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cletus Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 Side sharn slightly related Boss has had a blown SB chev in a hot rod for years, and always runs the belt quite loose This is because when it all gets warm it grows enough to affect belt tension Apparently if you run it too tight it can snap the end off the crank 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 On bikes with a separate gearbox you set the tension cold so that you can get a 90 degree twist in the top run of the belt. When everything is hot you're lucky to get about 30 degrees twist. Rather than a double vee belt I'd use a polyvee. Lighter and for the same width total you've got a bigger load rating. Way back in speedway TQ's it was chain driven blowers. Then once they got them working well, the odd end got broken off cranks. The next step was a double vee setup cos they realised some slippage was needed. Now - Polyvee all the way. Lighter and stronger for higher load capacity 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 2 hours ago, Toddy415 said: Can you set them up to not throw and chew out belts? My brother has one on his 302 Capri, been on for a few years and I don't think he has had any issues. But he's probably only done like 5000 km in that time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi808 Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 6 hours ago, ajg193 said: Gilmers are only ever acceptable when used on a 4k with a 3/4 race cam. You clearly don’t rotary. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valiant Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 2 hours ago, kiwi808 said: You clearly don’t rotary. /308. I saw one fitted to a BB Chev too it was set for quiet mode and worked well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piazzanoob Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 gilmore setups are not as reliable as a standard v or ribbed belt setup. if your not a fan of the noise there are plenty of kits to convert your motor to a 4 or 5 ribbed belt setup. but i like the sound myself. with motors with a top mount blower setup the belt tension doesn't want to be alot because as the motor warms up the tension increases. but if your pulleys are aligned good and not too much belt tension they work well and provide much more grip over a standard v belt. although running a spare gilmore belt is a must do. As they wear over time and quality of belt can vary. but if its a weekend car and you have no other belt setup then its a cost affect way to get it sorted. well 95% of rotary's ive seen run them so they must be good right 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncie Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 Save your money and just run a Holden v6 power steer pump for the noise and nice new good quality stock belts. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr1600 Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 From my experience , the rotary ones are overdone and kill alternators due to it. Used to pull the old motor to 10k that would have the alternator doing in excess of 13k rpm / Water pump doing over 8k rpm. When you look at sizing versus the standard pulleys can see how overcooked they are , New underdriven pulleys are v belt and will see alternator under 8k / WP maybe 5k prm at full noise. Was cool for crusing around and nothing like that noise....Maybe trade again one day if i can find one of the old prototype 20mm sets. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan1uz Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Is there any issues in terms of damage if I was to install a gillie kit on a 2nd gen 1uz non vvti stock . Planning to supercharge but doing internals first . Just a question cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sluggy Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 My stock LSA runs a 8 rib micro v belt on the supercharger, 600hp and 25000 ks without changing the belt. Don't see the point of Gilmer unless you are running a 6/71 blower etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbon Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 When it comes to gillies, the Rule of Cool prevails IMHO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 ^ whine and dine its the winning combination. a few belts and bearings is barely a minor inconvienience /this is the way 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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