Homemade Serpentine Brackets

[LiLDrumKing3]

I was thinking about fabbing up some of my own Serpentine Brackets, because I couldn't find any I liked for cheap. I really like March style brackets but they are so expensive. My brother is really good at AutoCAD and he was thinking about drawing up some brackets and maybe taking them to have them CNC'd into a solid block of Aluminum or steel. I was just wondering if anybody had done this or anything like this before.

[skoffice]

That'd be a good idea. Having them CNC'd may cost a little bit if you don't have a buddy with one or something. Since they are just one part and not a batch they might charge a lot. Measure Measure Measure! Maybe buy a march kit locally, copy it, and return it

[4x4fab]

i'm not a big fan of buying someone's stuff and copying it. But to all his own. only because I fab and sell parts I guess.
I'd be interested in a copy of the drawings though!! if you do this, PM me and we can work out some kinda deal.

[LiLDrumKing3]

Originally Posted by 4x4fab

i'm not a big fan of buying someone's stuff and copying it. But to all his own. only because I fab and sell parts I guess.
I'd be interested in a copy of the drawings though!! if you do this, PM me and we can work out some kinda deal.

I'll let you know how everything goes. The idea is still up in the air whether I will even try building it or not.


I was hoping someone else had done something like this, so I could possibly get more ideas and pictures before I started totally from scratch.

[tenni126]

Doesn't Summit sell a set? Thought I saw them for like 3-400 at some point. No chrome and fanciness, but still.

[mwipp]

idk if you want to do this.. but ill let ya know lol i wanted serpentine but didnt have the money. sooo i went to the junkyard and got a serpentine belt system off a 4.3l s10 engine. it bolts right up to a 350! and then you can steal the newer style alternator and air conditioner pump.

i just got the brakets from a junkyard cleaned them up and painted them with aluminum blast. looks nice. but prolly not as nice as cnc machined ones. and slightly off topic.. but what auto cad does your brother use?

[LiLDrumKing3]

Originally Posted by mwipp

idk if you want to do this.. but ill let ya know lol i wanted serpentine but didnt have the money. sooo i went to the junkyard and got a serpentine belt system off a 4.3l s10 engine. it bolts right up to a 350! and then you can steal the newer style alternator and air conditioner pump.

i just got the brakets from a junkyard cleaned them up and painted them with aluminum blast. looks nice. but prolly not as nice as cnc machined ones. and slightly off topic.. but what auto cad does your brother use?

I did buy a serpentine system, it wasn't the one from the 4.3. I think it was off of like a 94 suburban or something. It was all I could find at the time. It was pretty hideous, but I was still willing to try. Turns out I didn't have all of the holes in front of the passenger side head that I needed, and I think the 4.3 brackets use the same bolt holes. So I figured I would take this opportunity to try and come up with my own bracket that looks nice and hopefully fairly inexpensive. As for the autocad, I have no clue. My guess would be the new one. if that helps any.

[mwipp]

haha alright. yea i was just wondering cause im going to school to be a mech engineer and am starting to work with that kind of stuff

[LiLDrumKing3]

Oh cool. Yea I wish I would have taken drafting or something in High School. It would have made designing this bracket so much easier. My brother said he would convert it in to Autocad after I already figured out all the measurements and drew it up. So I'm stuck using the good ol pencil, paper, and a ruler for now lol.

[mwipp]

haha yea. still will get the job done tho!

[LiLDrumKing3]

Well I'm almost done with designing the bracket. I think I have all of the measurements figured out, and when I get some more money I'm going to go ahead and buy the Alternator, A/C compressor, Power Steering Pump, and Water Pump. Then I will be able to make the final adjustments to the drawing and make sure everything is spaced correctly so I can start building the bracket. I let you guys know if it works out or not.

[mwipp]

good deal... im really interested to see how they turn out!

[LiLDrumKing3]

Me too haha. Hopefully it works out so i can share my work with yall.

[mwipp]

ha forsure... where you having them machined? i would love to have a cnc machine at my disposal... i know how to use solid modeling.. i would make soooooo much custom stuff if i had one. jsut for fun haha

[LiLDrumKing3]

Right now I think my first bracket is going to be out of 1/4" steel and plasma cut everything out at my old highschool shop. Then maybe if I decide to make another one or more then I might have them CNC'd into billet aluminum. If this first bracket is a success I will probably start looking into that a little more.

[mwipp]

ha you still have a plasma cutter. i wish i had one of those haha

[LiLDrumKing3]

Well I have access to one. I like it better that way, cause I didn't have to pay for it

[mwipp]

hahahaha well then im not quite as jealous then

[LiLDrumKing3]

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. Been pretty busy. Here is a rough model of what the serpentine bracket will look like. I started ordering parts so I can start mocking up a trial bracket.

[Captainfab]

That looks good. But I'm not understanding how the water pump will fit into that with those brackets where the water pump bolts to the block.

[LiLDrumKing3]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That looks good. But I'm not understanding how the water pump will fit into that with those brackets where the water pump bolts to the block.

The water pump will fit on top of those smaller/back brackets (between the front and back brackets). The back bracket should have a bigger hole in the middle of them that the water will flow through, that i have left out. But those back to brackets will act as spacers for the water pump. I hope that cleared it up. It's kind of hard to describe. Tomorrow I'll try to edit the model to make it a little more clear. And those rods will change in length accordingly to the depth of the water pump mounting tabs.

[Captainfab]

So are you going to use a short water pump, and those brackets will move it out to a long water pump location? Just wondering how you plan on lining up the pulley's

Originally Posted by LiLDrumKing3

The water pump will fit on top of those smaller/back brackets (between the front and back brackets). The back bracket should have a bigger hole in the middle of them that the water will flow through, that i have left out. But those back to brackets will act as spacers for the water pump. I hope that cleared it up. It's kind of hard to describe. Tomorrow I'll try to edit the model to make it a little more clear. And those rods will change in length accordingly to the depth of the water pump mounting tabs.

[PGSigns]

I am with Captianfab on this one on the pulley deal. For looks you just need the top brackets and the rest you can reuse. The crank pulley, water pump and pulley, the power steering pump, mount and pulley can all be used from a donor motor and all will line up. Then design you bracket to fit based on the placement of the alternator and the ac compressor. Your model needs to have the heads and valve covers in it and then model the alternator and AC. That way you can get the placement to allow adjustment and the rest of the mounting. Both the alternator and AC pump will need support on the back side. You mat also want to think about using a factory tensioner. Will make solid mounting the AC and alternator easier and keep the right tension all the time.
Jimmy

[LiLDrumKing3]

It will use a short water pump. I believe it will be at the same position as a long water pump or pretty close. I might have to make a spacer for the crank pulley to make it line up perfectly, but I don't remember the demensions of the short water pump and the long water pump off the top of my head. Everything will mount just like a march performance serpentine kit, I actually called them up to ask them some questions about their brackets. The back spacers/brackets mount to the back of the ac compressor and alternator, so there is rear support on those. The brackets were measured off of an accurate drawing with the heads and valve covers and they do not affect anything with this serpentine system. I have taken a lot of measurements to make sure nothing is in the way.
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[PGSigns]

I think there is an 1 1/2" difference between the two. That is a lot to fill. I am kind of old school and was brought up to use the kiss method. So I design using as much off the shelf and the bare minimum of parts. From more than 35 years of drag racing here are a couple of things I have seen. Water pump spacers leak over time with the thermal expansion and creep from load. Pulley spacers never seem to keep the pulleys as true as them being directly bolted up. Long bolts with spacers flex and have problems with staying tight. The load that the belt puts on brackets is higher than most folks think during acceleration. I have built some brackets I knew were plenty strong and broke them. Good luck with this and keep us posted on how it is progressing.
Jimmy