Serp fan belt routing - no PAS or AC

I've been thoroughly enjoying putting a few miles on my new Chim over recent weeks and have also been trying to learn about the various bits and bobs along the way.

Car is running great but am keen to stay on top of things and slowly work through improvements/maintenance as needed - I'll definitely be using garages/specialists for the important stuff or anything I'm not comfortable with but I'd also like to try some things myself as that seems to be a really nice part of the ownership experience.

One thing I've been looking at was the fan belt - I'll try and attach some photos to this post so you can see the current routing which although seems to work perfectly, does seem a bit different from all the various photos of your cars on here as well as the engine bays I've been comparing it to in the classifieds....

Can you advise if there is a particular reason mine may have been done this way and is therefore best left alone, or should I use the new fan belt I've bought (Part number TVR E2212 from the Motaclan site) to try and re-route this so it looks more normal? Car does not have PAS or AC if that helps.

Do I need to get any special tools ready before I even think about trying to do anything here?

This should be the belt route.

Ah that's really helpful, Belle, thank you very much!

So if I am following the path of our belts as they currently are, it does actually seem that the way both Pablo and I have them routed means the different parts involved are all spinning in the correct way (i.e. everything other than what I think is the water pump is spinning clockwise)?

I guess I could try and loosen what seems to be a bit of rusty bolt on the tensioner and see if I can spin this around a bit to get it in a better position - does that seem a sensible plan to consider?

I'd guess that Pablo could quite easily just re-route his belt if needed/desired as all of the bits seems to be in the ideal location to match up with the diagram.

Non pas should be the same as the pump is in the same place, the idler is just a gutted out pump.

I went for a shorter belt (1260) and skipped out the aircon stand in pulley after seeing a picture on one going through the water tank when one of the engine supports failed. Was worried initially about water contact patch size but have been running it like this for over 2 years.

Sorry my post was incorrect.
Both your cars the water pulley is running in an anti clockwise direction which is correct.
The issue will be extra strain on the tensioner pulley and or other wheels which all turn clockwise.
I think the way yours runs is usually because the correct size belt could not be sourced.

When it runs as per the drawing you’ll notice when you rev the engine the tensioner pulley takes up slack from the torque effect and then returns to a more neutral position when revs stabilise or you return to idle.

The only time you risk cutting through the water tank (swirl pot ) is when your engine mounts are knackered.
As any slacking of the engine mounts causes your nearside manifold to drop perilously close to n/s body the better solution imho is to check or replace those mounts.

If you look through the n/s front wheel arch you should see a 10 mm gap between manifold and bodywork. Anything less suggests the engine mount is failing.
Your engine should remain static when you blip or Rev your engine and if it moves because of failed engine mounts that movement is being transmitted to your gearbox mounts and slowly knackering those too.
In the past people complained the engine mounts or rubber fail. I replaced mine years ago (Powers supplied) and they have never sagged in probably 35,000 miles.

Oh yes that new belt routing looks excellent, Pablo - I'm glad this thread has helped you make this little improvement too!

I think I have all the info now that I would need to be able to get this done, although I'll probably need a bit more time (and preparation) before I'd feel comfortable doing it as I really wouldn't want to break anything.

I'm still at that stage where everything on the car seems a bit intimidating so am building up the courage to start tinkering....

Thanks all for the guidance and info, amazing as always.

Ah, I did mine wrong. I used a socket set, not a ratchet ring spanner.
An excuse to buy more tools...