[maddmaxx]

1978 El Camino, bought used , 350 engine. I have replaced the alternator recently and just yesterday replaced the waterpump. For some reason the alternator pulley does not line up with the fan pulley. It actually sits a little sideways, which causes the belt to rub on the pulleys. I have tried to use washers to adjust the alternator either way, but can't get it just right. I am wondering if I need to replace the upper and lower alt. brackets. Maybe someone installed the wrong ones??? Just wondering is anyone else had this same problem.

[minesblown]

i don't know if this helps but when i put my motor back in i put on new belts. well for some reason it kept throwing the alternater belt not actually throwing it off, just turning it upside down and riding on the side of the pulley. i ended up putting the old belt back on, problem solved. if you or the store where you bought the alternater still has the old alternater you may want to compare the pulley location in reference to the case between the two. maybe they gave you the wrong one.

[maddmaxx]

The alternator I put on was exactly like the one I took off. The water pump I put on was exactly like the one I took off. This is why I think it must be the upper and lower alt brackets. No matter how many "shims" I put on I can't get them to line up straight.

[Pony]

Close to the same thing. I just went thru the 350 for my 1974 Stingray while I replaced the frame. I replaced all the pulleys with chrome ones, a chrome alternator case kit w/dual pulley, and chrome p/s pump pulley. Put it all together and the alt belts were out of alignment. Checked the new pulleys against the old and they were exactly the same. Same water pump, same alt guts, same stock mounting brackets, no shims under pump pulley. I had to put a 3/16" thick plate between the alt bracket and front of the head where it mounted to get the belts to line back up. I'm thinking that I just never noticed it before as it never gave me any trouble and caught it on reassembly.

[poncho62]

Does the long bolt thread into the head, or is it missing that one. If it is missing, you probably have pre 69 heads on it, and there is no provision for this bolt. Just guessing......

[maddmaxx]

Not sure if I understand what you mean. There are only 2 bolts that hold the alt. on. The bottom "long bolt" goes through a bracket and bolts to the head, the bracket is bolted to the alt. The 2nd bolt is the "slider bolt" which bolts to the bracket that bolts to the top of the heater hose/thermostat housing.

[Pony]

Look at picture # 13 in my gallery. You can see the alt bracket bolted to the head although one mounting bolt is obscured by the fan blade. the adjustment arm is bolted to a mounting boss on the front of the eldebrock intake. This is a 1974 stock cast bracket and bolts in two places to the head. you can also see the shim I had to put under the bracket to space it out.

[maddmaxx]

That's a cool looking engine! Mine doesn't look anything like it though. My alt. is on the opposite side and the brackets are completly different. But I understand what you are saying. I think I am going to just keep "shimming" it until I get it right. By the way, I was born in Lynnwood (1969).

[Pony]

I'm up on Mukilteo Speedway. They are making it a four lane now and everyone else hates it. But I'm sitting here looking at all that nice new pavement in a long straight flat line and thinking SWEET!

[lust4speed]

I would take a straight edge off the front of the crank pulley since you didn't remove or replace it. This should tell you whether the alternator is off, or possibly the pulley flange on the water pump was pressed on incorrectly. You will get much better results by using the crank pulley as your starting point.

[dollybud]

I had the same problem when I switched from a electric waterpump, and installed a 7 bladed fan and pulley. (it was cooled strictly by electric fan)Do as suggested and use a straight edge using the crank pulley as the reference point. I had to shim the long bolt to the head at the head with a washer, and grind some off the other side of the bracket to align the alternator. It takes a bit of time and patience!