In the middle of my swap and I have a 6 rib ac compressor and before I attempt to swap the 6 rib clutch for an 8 rib, will it work to just swap it over? Don't want to crack open the ac system and have the extra expense of swapping compressors if at all possible.

 

Yes you can switch a 6 rib to an 8 rib pulley without even breaking the system open. You leave the clutch on and switch the pulley head. On this site and another, there is a write up on using a 6 groove belt in place of the 8 groove one. You might consider that as an option, at least for the time being. You can always switch the pulley later if necessary. Just a thought.

I'm currently making preparations to put in an 04 Expy 5.4 2v into my 98, so I've been doing a lot of research. Between your thread and one on the other forum, I'm sure I have everything before doing the swap at my disposal. I even kept the converters/pipes from the Expy, just in case. Not to mention all the harnesses and such. I even kept all the bolts from the removal. Might as well have too many than not enough at the end.

 

Thank you ak, I figured it was that simple but wasn't 100% on it. And I considered just throwing a 6 rib belt on because that part of the serpentine system isn't susceptible to belt slip