Chevy 283 Alternator Bracket question

[AZ59apacheguy]

Hi. I'm trying to figure out my alternator bracket situation and have some questions. I bought two upper alternator brackets that were said to be for Chevy Small Blocks. I have a Factory Assembly Manual and set it up the way they did in the manual, but with that setup it doesn't leave me with much adjustment ( see 1st and 2nd pics ). I brainstormed for a while and came up with flipping the bracket upside down which gives me tons of adjustment ( 3rd-5th pics ). Everything seems to line up, and looks fine to me. Is it ok to have my alternator setup this way??

[NW Task Force]

I had to ,mess around with my 283 driver's side alternator bracket setup to get it right finally. Mine was a little tougher to manage because I am running headers. I would imagine your 4th &5th pic setup will work as long as clearance and belt alignment allows. Check out my "pics of 60's smallblocks" thread to see my setup if it helps you.

[OrrieG]

Only problem I can see is that the belt rotation might move the alternator overtime towards the engine loosening the belt. In your pic 1 the rotation would move the alternator away from the engine keeping the belt tight. If everything is tight and stays tight no problem. I once set up an air conditioner compressor and bracket on the passenger side with the weight of the compressor rotating down and could never keep it tight enough to maintain belt tightness. I had your problem so I made my own from two to avoid the conflict with the alternator fan. I also wanted to place the alternator out further to the side away from the valve cover.

[hyatt]

move your upper strap fm waterpump to intake bolt hole and you should have plenty of adjustment

[mr48chev]

It should go as OrrieG showed in post #3. With your shorter valve covers you should be able to roll the alternator in so you can put a bit shorter belt on it so your adjustment bolt sits in the middle of the slot or towards "inside end" of the slot allowing for more adjustment if the belt stretches a bit.

[_Ogre]

these trucks have a lot of room under the hood but i think you'll run into interference with the inner fender.
wouldn't it be easier to get the right size belt?
we ran them that way for 50 years

[mr48chev]

I was suggesting that he set it up exactly like the one you show in the yellow truck OrrieG. That gives plenty of room for future adjustment if needed. That is a lot stronger bracket on that engine too. The flat ones tend to flex a bit.

One more thing that should go without saying but needs to be mentioned. Buy the best belt you can find and don't go with the cheapies.

[AZ59apacheguy]

I like all your suggestions. Orrieg, your upper bracket looks longer than mine. Hyatt, I tried mounting it to the intake bolt and it was the yielded the same results. I would like to keep this as stock looking as possible. The bracket in Orges post, is that a correct upper bracket for a '59, it looks like a later style, please excuse my ignorance. Thanks for all the help

[_Ogre]

nothing is period correct on truk
i made all my accessory drive brackets to match the pulleys and parts i had in stock
it was a reference picture for how much room you will have as the inner fenders taper down
my alt bracket is in the same spot, just needed to get the right belt

[Rude Dude]

Remember the truck came with a generator not a alternator so you should look for a top alternator arm.

Originally Posted by AZ59apacheguy

I like all your suggestions. Orrieg, your upper bracket looks longer than mine. Hyatt, I tried mounting it to the intake bolt and it was the yielded the same results. I would like to keep this as stock looking as possible. The bracket in Orges post, is that a correct upper bracket for a '59, it looks like a later style, please excuse my ignorance. Thanks for all the help

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by AZ59apacheguy

I like all your suggestions. Orrieg, your upper bracket looks longer than mine.

I made mine out of two brackets to get the extra length. Some one questioned hitting the inner fender, I had mine in place and as shown the alternator is about 1.5" off the inner fender.

[1project2many]

The last two posts really cover it. The generator is a smaller diameter and doesn't hit the valve cover like an alternator. I also made my own upper bracket using two brackets although it looks different from Orrie's. Because my top bracket has no curve it could hit the alternator fan if rotated too far in either direction but honestly I had to replace the belt due to age and cracks before it became stretched enough for the bracket to be an issue. IIRC at least part of the upper bracket was a six cylinder engine piece.

[AZ59apacheguy]

Actuall if you look at my first two pics, my problem is not the alterator hitting my valve covers. If you look closely at pic 2, the Alternator is hitting the alternator bracket itself. Between that and the arm not being long enough, that's what is causing my lack of adjustment issues.

[1project2many]

Distance from generator shaft to lower bolt hole is different and generator cover isn't as large. I looked at my lower bracket and I made some modifications there too so I'll bet that was a problem for me as well. It looks like I welded a tube on top of the existing bracket. I know the alternator hit the valve cover at one point... probably after I moved the lower pivot up.