Kevin,
I have a Conover lathe and replaced the bearings about 16 months ago. The belt, drive spindle and pulley all needed to come out. It was pretty easy. Before you do this, you might want to purchase one of the link type vee belts. The links can added or removed to get the right size for your set-up. I think I have seen where these link type belts actually provide better power with less slipping. The are very common and used on many power tools such as table saws that are belt driven. When I bought my Conover used it had this type of belt on it. That way you don't need to remove the pulley and spindle.
Changing the belt.
1.Take off your hand wheel.
2. On the hand wheel end - The washer has tabs which should have one or two bent up into a notch on the nut. Bend these tabs down flat. This unlocks the nut and allows it to turn.
3. Remove the nut & washer off the end of the shaft.
4. Remove the cover over the pulley. You need to remove/ loosen the 1/4" set screw on the pulley which locks it on the shaft.
4. Should should be able to slide the pulley along the shaft to remove the keyway. If you need to tap the shaft forward, but be sure to use a wood block to protect the threads.
5. Once the pulley is free, continue to drive the shaft forward and remove from the headstock. Or at least far enough to get the belt off the end of the shaft.
6. Replace the belt and do everything in reverse order.
7. Don't forget when you tighten the nut, you will need to bend one of the tabs on the washer into the nut to prevent it from moving loose.
Hopefully this helps. If not let me know.
Jake Niedling
