What's the margin of error with belt alignement?

[Dino]

I just put an aftermarket Denso alt on my car and if I push the back of the alt against the block, the belt lines up fine with the a/c compressor and water pump.  I would like to pull the alt forward a bit though to have a tiny bit more clearance in the back.  The belts still seem fine but I can see that they are not perfectly straight.  In fact, I think the alt is more forward than the stock alt in any position.  I don't want to do all this work only to find out it's going to throw the belts off so does anyone have any idea what I can get away with?  I am unable to start the car for quite some time to come.

Again I don't think I can pull it too far forward but it doesn't hurt to ask.  Let me know if you want pics of the setup and I'll go snap some.

[cdr]

because the alt belts are so long,with a/c, it can be a little off,but not much 

i just did mine

[Dino]

That's what I'm thinking.  Worst case scenario the belts do want to come off or wear unevenly.  If that happens, I'll just have to move something.  Seems to me that the alt and pump line up fine and I think that compressor (one like yours) sits back a tad more than the stock rv2 compressor.  I have it in the attic so I'm not going to break my neck getting it out but I may experiment with washers on the compressor if needed.

[cdr]

i had to shim things to line up,i used a straight edge to check the alignment. 

[Pete in NH]

Hi Dino,


A picture or two would help. Sometimes someones idea of a little misalignment turns out to be more than the bearings can deal with over a longer period of time. Most bearings really don't like to be side loaded.

[fy469rtse]

Dino, shims available to water pump, crank pulleys, worth doing then the headache of throwing a belt away from home of wearing something out prematurely,
I had to mine with gear drive moving everything out,
mancini or 440 source I got mine from , 

[myk]

Dino, guess keeping that AC is non-negotiable, huh...

[Dino]

Thanks guys, I'll get some pics tonight, didn't have the time last night.  Good to know I can shim this stuff easily. 

A/C has to stay, no way I'm driving this car in our humid summers anymore without.