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Have been looking to remove the air pump for some time. Not crazy about the kits that are available.
Started playing around with it today.
The plywood is a mock up for an aluminum plate to bolt the pulley to.
My question is , can I remove the top alternator bracket . I can fashion a bracket for it, but was trying to keep it as clean as possible. Between the bottom and back mounting points it seems secure. Or will there be too much twist on the alt case.
Just throwing it out there. What all you say?
No bueno I think. Off the bottom of the water pump pulley I don't see enough angle for the belt to make it to the alternator cleanly. The power steering pump pulley is probably in the way unless I lack the creativity to figure out a workable routing path...which is certainly possible.
Sorry, I should have read this more closely before replying. I now see that you're still going to have the pulley for the air pump there, and you're just asking if it's okay to delete the bracket connecting the alternator top mount to that area.
It's a good question. I think losing that connecting bracket is likely to cause some belt slippage under heavy alternator electrical load. But the belt angle there has almost 170 degrees of wrap there around the alternator pulley, so....only way to know is to try it. If it slips you may be able to fab up a stabilizing connector plate, which is probably what you're already thinking right?
Sorry, I should have read this more closely before replying. I now see that you're still going to have the pulley for the air pump there, and you're just asking if it's okay to delete the bracket connecting the alternator top mount to that area.
It's a good question. I think losing that connecting bracket is likely to cause some belt slippage under heavy alternator electrical load. But the belt angle there has almost 170 degrees of wrap there around the alternator pulley, so....only way to know is to try it. If it slips you may be able to fab up a stabilizing connector plate, which is probably what you're already thinking right?
My concern is not with slipping, but with too much twist on the alternator case causing it to crack.
I think it is a critical bracket as the alternator is overdriven significantly compared to crank rotation. I think upper rpm limit on stock alternator is approximately 22k. As rpm goes up tolerances matter more and more.
Here's the final mock up before I took it apart to polish. Ditched the idea of removing the upper bracket.like I said it was just an idea. Last thing is to measure for a belt. Looks like it will be about 6-7" shorter.
In your first pic, the brace on the rear of the alternator to the exhaust manifold stud is in place. So you have it, and it fits. I would do what is necessary to retain that brace, even if you have to modify (slightly) the length of the upper link to make it fit again. There's a lot of vibration on the mounts and alternator. The L98 mount is a bit different configuration than the 4.3 V6 and 5.7 V8's of the same time period. I've seen several mounts fracture on these engines when the rear brace had been eliminated.
EDIT/ADD: The brace may still be installed. I can't really tell from the pics of the new bracket, which looks really good, BTW. If the brace is in place, disregard my comment.
Yes, I have the rear bracket in place.
That was the reason for my original we question, with the bottom and rear braces, could I remove the top?.
But that's all moot now anyway.
Polished it up last night, and waiting on some hardware. Will post some pics after it's installed.
I know this is an old(er) post, but I"m looking at doing the smog pump delete. I like your solution much better. If you had that in kit-form I would be very inclinded to buy it. Even just roughed out. I would polish it, or have it Cerakoted.
Yes, I have the rear bracket in place.
That was the reason for my original we question, with the bottom and rear braces, could I remove the top?.
But that's all moot now anyway.
Polished it up last night, and waiting on some hardware. Will post some pics after it's installed.
I know this is an old thread, but I came here from the "Anyone else hate smog pump bypass kits?" thread and want to re-create your solution. Is that 10mm thick aluminum? How long is the upper link? How long are each of the spacers?
Remove the alternator bracket?
