Thread: alternator locations

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I have a 63 Nova with a sb350 in it and am having some issues with where the previous owner put the alternator.
It's located on the upper left (see picture below) but there is no room to tighten it as it hits the inner-wheel well. the belts feel relatively 'tight' but still squeal when the engine is revved up. I'd like to either find a bracket system that will allow for it to be tightned in this location, or move it to a spot where it can be.
FYI- I think it's got what they call a 'long' water pump. it's mounted out about and inch away from the block.

any suggestion??

You are maxed out on your adjustment. Go to parts store and buy a 1" shorter belt.---take the old belt with you for them to measure and ensure that you get a belt of the corect width.

I thought that too when I first started looking into this, but the space I have to tighten/loosen is a mear 1" or less... as the alternator just fits between the valve cover and the inner wheel well. It's clearly not the best location for this.

it can depend on what heads and water pump you have. which water pump do you have (short or long) and do the heads have bolt holes in the front of them. if you have the short water pump and no threaded bolt holes in the heads then you have no choice but to hang the alt. on the manifolds. that 1" you have can make a big dif. in the adj.

Denny... that's a very good point (and very good illustrations by the way). i guess i didn't see or think to look for that, but you are right. i will see if i can find a wider belt.

lt1s10, the water pump appears to be 'long' but i'm going to check that when i get home and verify. it does stick out a ways from the engine, but not sure if it's far enough to be considered 'long'.
the heads DO have threaded holes in them and i belive that the lower alt. bracket that it's using now is using one of those holes.

if i can't get this to work (with wider belts), I found a lower mounting bracket-kit that's supposed to work real well.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks to me like your running a short water pump with latter model heads (with the accessory bolt holes.

If so the bracket shown in the lower left hand corner of the picture below may be your answer. This is the bracket that was used on mid 70's Chevy SB powered pickups and Corvettes.

It bolts to the front of the head and should move the alt up and closer to the engine which will give you more adjustment.

I used to buy these new at the chevy dealership for under $20, and there probable still available.

Originally posted by DennyW
You have to square everything off the crankshaft pulley. Keep the off sets as minimal as possible.

When i first got the car, it actually was misalligned something like the second picture... i was able to bend/modify the existing brackets to get it more square and lined up correctly (it wasn't off my much), but i thought that might help. it didn't help the squealing, but it did get it aligned much better.

i have ordered a lower alt. bracket from Modern Performance. i should have that next week. we'll see how it goes.
i'll post the results.