I have ATI's procharger kit along with the bracket. Using a Gates laser alignment tool I have found the the alignment is off very slightly by maybe a .25 to .50 rib or so between the P1 and the Hamonic balancer (the laser hits the valley of the rib instead of the top of the rib like it should be) . From what the Gates chart says its within tolerance but I want perfection..(or as close as I can get to it ) So I'm planning on shiming the head unit...my question is can I shim the pully to align it or the whole head unit? Next question, if its the whole head unit with ATI's new bracket where do I shim it at?

 

HI: I shimmed my bracket by adding .025" shims behind the spacers that attached to the head and first bracket only (2), I left the water pump mount alone. This made the first plate paralell to the engine.
I then shortened the (5) spacers between the two supercharger plates by .025". This changed my total aligment by .085". Keep in mind the geometry of the spacers to the head. a .025" spacing change at that point is about double at the harmonic balancer end.
I made my shims from .025" alum sheet stock, punched them out with a device like a leather punch about 1" dia, I drilled the center holes. All my alignment issuses have disappeared no more belt dust, needless to say I have not broken a belt so far in 2000 Miles and several dyno runs, Before I could break an 8 rib on dyno testing. I wish I had a gates alignment tool at the time. I did know of them at that point. I used dial calipers it was littlte difficult to get good reference points my way. However for checking the plate parallelism to the head, is easy using a spacer (long socket if need be) and some feeler gauges. I am not sure the gates catches the paralell problem, it will give you an indication of final distance at the pulley. I think the Gates after the first plate has been made paralell is probably the best solution.
Good Luck Glenn

 

So you say to shim at where the unit mounts to the Engine. Ok....I pulled off the head unit from its mounting point....the three long bolts holding it to the engine mount bracket. I'm going to re-attach it and play around with the shims untill I finally get it lined up perfectly then note the thickness of the shims and have custom made bracket shims at my local machine shop. Its not off by much....about 1/2 a rib but its enough to wear the belts out pretty fast. You would think that ATI would take the time and at least give you the shims you need to line things up. I'll post a picture when I get time,thanks for your response.
They're (ATI) new bracket is pretty good but they still need some work to get things exactly right. Look into the Gates laser alignment tool, for 85 bucks its worth every penny. I'm sure once this thing is lined up the belt will last a long time and won't need adjusting as often.

 

I would recommend turning the harmonic balancer over half a turn. This makes sure that the balancer doesn't have a wobble in it.
Just a thought.

 

Watching the harmonic balancer while the engine is running, its straight and true, but thats a good point. I used the alignment of the Alt to Harmonic Balancer as a base line to check to see if everything was accurate (after checking the accuracy of the Laser liner). The Alt to Harmonic balancer was spot on as it was to the power steering pump. So using that as a guide, I shimed the SC to the mount at the 3 bolt points just to get a thickness of the shims I'll need to have made. Anyway its right on the money as of now. I'll have the shims made up on monday at my machine shop. Hopefully, this will resolve the belt issues.

 

You should be able to get it aligned with spacers/washers or by machining the stanchions on the head-unit.

 

Yeah, I have to shim it out, it needs to move away from the Engine mount for proper alignment. I'll have some shims and spacers made up and that should do it. ATI should set the drive pully up to be shimmed to the left or right on the shaft. Provided that the unit sits on the engine straight, then it would just be a matter of shimming the pully left or right till it lines up perfectly. It would be a lot easier than doing it this way.

 

Shimed it up tonight checked the alignment one more time and everything was good. Pretty much spot on. Noticed a big difference in the fact that no more dust from the belt and it did not come out of adjustment very quickly. Looks like a proper alignment is key in longevity and reliability. Ran it hard tonight and not one hint of belt noise or squeek. I think I got it nailed...time will tell.