well, it finally happened, my frayed belt snapped and managed to wrap most of itself and the steel belts around the alternator and the fan....

Anyway, hard part was getting all the rubber and steel belts OFF...

Installing the belt was puzzling I must admit... but i figured out a way to install the belt without removing neither the fan or shroud. This is the first time i've done it without removing anything so its a big deal for me... maybe this is how its always been done... but hey... iy worked for me on the spot so I'll just share what i did in case someone runs into the same problem.

First off... pass the belt through the shroud and fan..that's the hardest part...but its not really that hard. once its clear of the fan... position the belt such that it rests, as it should, on the alternator and fan pulleys... let the belt dangle a bit below the alternator...
NEXT... get a good length of safety wire(if you do not have one... get one, i never leave home without a good length)... run it between the crank pulley and the fan pulley... it must be long enough to reach the danging part of the belt. from underneath tie the safety wire to the belt... you'll use the safety wire to pull the belt through/between the crank pulley and fan pulley... once you get the belt past these 2 pulleys you're almost done... pull it enough so you can wrap the belt around the tensioner pulley... then route the belt over the power steering and compressor pulleys.... DONE! whew... if i had to do it all over again i can probably do it in under 15 minutes... it took me around 45 minutes coz i had to figure out how to route the belt without removing the fan and shroud... plus, i had to remove the tangled old belt

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85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project