Out of the clear blue sky the A/C belt and power steering belt came off my 1980 Corvette. Not sure why. Has anyone else had this problem and is it a recurring problem? Thanks

 

Welcome to the forums. The late 70s and early 80s it was a common problem. If the a/c was on at a fairly high rate of RPM and a/c was slightly loose, it would flop up and down a lot. GM had a remedy That was a deflector placed above the a/c belt on the top side between the water pump and a/c clutch to keep the belt from bouncing. It did help. What helped the most was to buy the shortest a/c belt that you can get to fit and run the belt tight, some belts stretch alot when new and run the deflector almost on the belt, or find an idler pulley and place it under the belt or a smooth idler on top of the belt. you have options. Most of the time the a/c belt would flop around and throw itself out of the v groove. Most of the time it would take other belts with it. But it is fixable. I'm surprised you have a car that has not been fixed. Good tight belts. If money is no object there is the serpentine system it's pricey

 

Welcome to the forum. Looks like Thomas covered the issue pretty well. The only other thing I might mention would be is Dayton belts have always worked well for me.

 

There is another little trick you can do. I have made a bracket in the past where it held a regular brake light switch, and you set the switch where at full throttle the carb linkage hits the switch, The switch is mounted on the left rear carb stud, disconnecting the power that goes to the a/c compressor clutch is connected to the switch gets disconnected giving the engine a bit more power and less belt flop. Auto makers have used this idea on some cars for years. One was a 80s chevette with a/c, it did not accelerate well with a/c on, it was installed by GM.

 

Another potential solution which would be a little more expensive is the deep groove pulleys that Corvette used back in the earlier days on their high performance engines. My '73 L-82 had those deep groove pulleys on it.

 

True that would help. In those days if the a/c belt was loose at all it was flopping around like a fish out of water. A serpentine belt is the way to go except for the price to convert. The late 70s were bad for throwing belts, never heard why that happened rubber band belts and pulley grooves to small maybe or both. I can't say that I have that problem on the 77, I run the belts tight and as short as I can make them. So far so good.