Who Makes the Strongest Header Bracket???

I've put the Gilmer system on and it runs nice.

My only concern is the bracket that is attached directly to the header bolts (not part of the Gilmer system).  Mine is torqueing and I can see it twisting the bracket when "winging" the engine.  Of course the twisting changes the position of the belt.

This is a pic of the piece in question:


So, anyone have better luck with one brand over another?

Thanks  

how about a brace from the 3rd mount hole on the back of the alternator to another header bolt???  

most cars with alternators use the rear cover bolt to stop the alternator from rocking like you describe...


just curious... is that bracket aluminum...?????     most of the ones i have seen are steel....  

All steel brackets/arms.  I have another Ace up the sleeve to try.

When Alistair and I installed the Gilmer system, he commented that alternator was too far back.  I found that the perfect aligment was when the back of the alternator mounting hole for the J-bar is ~1" in front of the adjusting arm when there is no torque on the arm.  When the alternator is mounted behind the arm it is slid forward into this position and the arm is torqued forward by ~1".  This torque acts as a spring to pull the alternor back against the pull of the engine.

When I put in the double J-bar, I got everything aligned so there is no torque on the J-arm when the alternator is ~1" in front of the existing J-Bar placement.  So even though the alternator is in the perfect location, there is no spring action pulling it back against the engine torque until it starts to bend forward from this point.  So even though the bar is now twice as strong, even a little deflection takes the alternator out of alignment by drawing it forward from the ideal location.

The next step is to move the alternator back 3/4" and use the two bars.  Then when the alternator is in the ideal position it is putting 3/4" torque on two bars which is equivelent to 1.5" of torque on one bar.  But now each additional inch of travel requires twice the effort because the engine must torque against two bars rather than one.

So the currrent plan is to smooth out the rear pad of the alternator mounting hole so that the rear bar can attach here and the alternator will be sandwiched between the two bars with the rear bar in the original position and the front bar at the front mounting pad of the alternator.

Hey!  That's why they call it "Car Crafting!"  

I took the bracket to a welding shop and for $15 the guy welded a ~1" x ~3" x 1/8" plate to strengthen the trailing edge where the bracket torques over actually pulling the "S" out of the curve.  We'll know the outcome tomorrow.

 

just curious...   have you noticed that some of the new bosch alternators have an overrunning clutch built into the alternator pulley... so the belt is not thrown when shifting gears..  do to belt kick back...

this might be an interesting addition...  as alternators can really spin and have a lot of mass...

i think that some superchargers are now also outfitted with this overrunning sprague..

perhaps... it should be designed into the crank pulley grooves...

a little reading on it..  just an idea....

http://www.formsprag.com/PDF/Principles.pdf
http://www.formsprag.com/PDF/P_938_FC_Body.pdf

http://www.gmnbt.com/gmn_free_wheel_clutches.htm