jusplainwacky

This is the problem with the early 58's....what you see in the assembly manuals isn't always correct.

jusplainwacky

Maybe I should start with this....can anyone confirm?

I get about 1.07"

jusplainwacky

I noticed that the bracket doesn't fit snug and if I put some washers on the back side, it moves the generator back and the pulley lines up with the water pump. Anyone see a problem with doing this?

jim lockwood

The stack of washers will work and the only difficulty will be manipulating the bolt, washers and generator as you assemble everything. It will be a little tedious.

However, in the bigger picture, the need for those washers tells me that is the wrong bracket for your generator.

Jim

jusplainwacky

I think I have the generator pulley aligned pretty good...but this is confusing to me.

When I put a straight edge on the front side of the water pump pulley to the other, it lines up pretty good to the generator pulley...but when I put the straight edge on the other side of the water pump pulley, the straight edge is about 3/8" back from the pulley (towards the generator). ???

Here is the other issue....I have pushed my generator all the way over towards the valve cover and the hood support is hitting the generator adjusting bracket.

I'm thinking there was a different generator brace used on early 58's that where shorter, but I can't find anything to support this. Plan to call Paragon in about 15 minutes and ask them as they have an early 58 on the floor with the support on the passenger side.

jusplainwacky

Here are a couple of pictures showing what I was talking about above.

jusplainwacky

BTW....I put on a shorter adjusting bracket...the one I originally took off the car.

jusplainwacky

Perhaps I spoke too soon. Again, standing back and looking at it, it STILL didn't look straight. Found out my piece of metal wasn't exactly straight.

I determined I'm 1/4" off. I could weld up the holes in the backing plate and redrill them and call it a day.

I did set the generator pulley with no space between the fan and pulley next to straight edge and as expected, it's too far back. Thoughts anyone?

jusplainwacky

Should I be able to fully rotate the U-Shape bracket? As you can see from the picture, I can't cause my holes won't align.

Now I'm wondering if this is off. I don't seem to have much travel when adjusting the generator towards the valve covers...as the generator hits this bracket...and yet I need to get it closer to it so that I can clear the hood support bracket.

Edited - I just checked the bracket against Noland Adams book and it appears to be correct.

jim lockwood

Probably not. It wouldn't have been a design requirement.

That bracket is provably wrong by virtue of not fitting snugly within the span of the two generator end frames. GM must have made a gazillion different brackets, each just a little different in length and each positioning the generator fore/aft slightly differently. I can't say what that bracket fits; only that it's not the right one for your generator.

Jim

jusplainwacky

Hey Jim...

I verified the bracket via Noland Adams book and it is correct. They show the dimensions in the book and it's 6.60 in length...the generator is slight wider. I'm assuming they left some tolerances.

I just talked to a guy that has an early 58...unfortunately he isn't 100% sure it is original...but his U-Shape bracket is bolted directly to the exhaust manifold and he has no backing plate. This is something Bill had said early in this post. This would put his generator lower and further back.

His water pump pulley is about 1/4" closer to his engine than mine.

plaidside

Or Heli-coild the ear so you do not have to use a nut!
Joe

jusplainwacky

As I mentioned earlier....the threads are fine. I just put the nut on there for safety.

rich5962

I'm traveling in MD but saw some notifications and wanted to reply back in here......

I re-read your old threads. Your generator was on the Driver's side before all of this. Your hood support is on the right. Because of that, your generator MUST be on the Driver's side. You have to put it back on the left if that hood support is on the right. You cannot have it any other way.

Rich

jusplainwacky

Hi Rich...The problem with the early 58's is that the documentation for it is missing and what is shown in the assembly manual and the parts catalogs doesn't mean it's correct for an early 58...I think it was almost a prototype car.

The other problem is, I don't know what it should be and what was original, so what I did was reach out to those on the Corvette Registry and emailed about 20 people...95% of the emails "bounced" but I did get a few replies. Unfortunately, one guy is at a swap meet, one guy doesn't have his car at his house, etc...but what I have found out is that ALL 58's had the generator on the passenger side. Someone just mounted mine on the drivers. When it was on the drivers side, the exhaust manifolds were the wrong part number. Since then I have replaced the water pump (correct number) so I could mount it on the passenger side, the harmonic balance, generator (the one I took off didn't have a tac-drive).

I did just get an email this morning from a guy who has and early 58...he does have the backing plate, again with the generator on the passenger side, and yet his pulley has no space between the fan and pulley....(like the one I had on there)...but with that one, it was about 1/4" too far back.

If I don't find the answer today...I'm just going to weld up the holes in the backing plate and drill new ones with the holes back 1/4". I already made a template.

Also what I found interesting is that he took the same measurement I showed in an earlier post (from the top of the water pump to the edge of the pulley) and he got the same distance. So we believe the water pump pulley and HB are correct. I have to question if his generator is slightly back...I have asked him to verify with a straight edge.

jusplainwacky

I ended up modifying the backing plate...welded up the top holes and drilled new ones to get the pulley lined up. It's lined-up perfectly now.

After contacting about 10 people with early 58's with the hood support on the passenger side and I got about 10 different answers...some had the U-Shape bracket mounted to the exhaust, some had it mounted to the backing plate. Some had space between fan and the pulley on the generator...some didn't. Some had the water pump pulley closer to the pump itself, other had my dimension. Some had a longer adjusting bracket, some had shorter. Needless to say, I don't think this will ever be answered as to what is "correct" unless you find someone with an unmolested early 58 with the same size HP as your car...and good luck with that.

So...I'm just writing this for anyone that my find themselves in the same position...and all I can say is do what ever works. Chances are nobody will even notice, much less know what is original.

jusplainwacky

BTW....I put the nuts and screw back on the generator while it was coming on and off, and the screw that mounts the braided grounding fell out somewhere on the floor of my garage. I swept all over, looking for the darn thing and I couldn't find it. I did have another generator which is a passenger car and it's not a screw...it's a bolt. Can someone tell me if a bolt was used or a screw?

jusplainwacky

One thing that puzzles me is that those that had the U-Shape bracket mounted directly to the exhaust manifold and used no backing plate...I tried this and my generator was so far back that I even consider it as it seemed the water pump pulley would be right up against the block.
I have a 327 block with 283 heads...I don't think this would account for anything would it?

JohnZ

No, it wouldn't.

emccomas

Just a thought, what water pump do you have on the car? Casting number? Application?

Yes, I am guessing....