455 A/C Sanden Compressor bracket

Discussion in 'The Big Chill' started by LonghornSS, Oct 19, 2013.

  1. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    I received the belts I ordered, installed them, and took pictures. The picture shows a stretched 50.5 inch belt on the alternator, which I swapped for a new 50 inch belt after the pictures were taken. However, both of the belts are too thin (The AC belt is squeaking just a little because the inner part of the belt actually touches the inside of the pulley groove). They're 10mm wide, and they should be 13mm wide, so I have new belts on order (http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/belt/duralast-v-belt-belt/112714_0_0/ and http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/belt/duralast-v-belt-belt/305128_0_0/). The new longer belt is 65.5 inches instead of 66 inches, but I think that will work better. The 65 inch belt I ordered is too small, and the 66 inch belt is long enough that I can max out the tensioner. The alternator belt is a 50 inch belt, but there is a lot of wiggle room with the length of that belt. I'm also running a CS130 alternator (off of a 1987 Corvette with a pulley swap) which may (or may not) make a difference. I'm also (as far as I know) running a pulley setup from a 1970 engine. I know there are different pulley sizes for these cars/engines, so again, your experience may vary. But, this should at least get you in the ballpark of what size belts to use. I also ended up putting the AC belt farther away form the engine while experimenting with the belts. Not that it makes much difference, but part of me worries about the extra leverage the alternator belt has on the bearings when the alternator belt is on the second groove. (I was getting a noise, so I swapped the belts around, but it turned out the noise was just because the belts are to thin and I left the belts installed the other way.)

    As promised, here are some pictures.
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  2. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    It's good to see you got your stuff installed. I would like to mention that when I send my last round of brackets out I included a set of assembly instructions. It does have a note on it about using a wide v belt so that the belt does not bottom out in the grove and that it is best to be running both your alternator and compressor with the same thickness belt. There is also a section that lists the compressor I personally have used as well as the dual grove alternator pulley for those of you not running an original a/c setup.
    Unfortunately I am unable to supply belt lengths due to variations in pulley diameters.
    If people are looking for pulleys and originality is not a concern T/A performance has complete sets of aluminum pulleys.
     
  3. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    My old alternator belt (the one shown) was undersized, and I knew it, but my old AC belt was the wider, correct size. I normally get my belts from Advance, as they have a wide selection in stock, but I had to buy the new ones from Auto Zone because of size availability. The part numbers for Advance are 50013, for example, where "500" is 50.0 inches, and 13 is thickness of the top in mm. Autozone's part number for the same belt would be 15500. Why they have a 15 correlate to 13mm thickness is beyond me, but I didn't realize it when I ordered my last round of belts. I relied on the part number instead of the specifications on the page. So, no biggie, other than my fault for wasting $15 because I didn't pay close enough attention.

    I'll get the new belts around the same time I get a new Quadrajet from Quadrajet Power, so it should be a good week for my Buick!
     
  4. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    Ok, I'm officially frustrated. I received the belts that I ordered, and they're both too wide. I'm pretty sure that AutoZone shipped me the wrong belts, not that I messed up the part number. So, now to try and order the correct belts and hope they send the right ones. In the mean time, my Buick is sitting not being driven :(

    EDIT: I did end up getting a belt that works for the Alternator. I forgot I had ordered a 49515 belt, and they did send the correct part with the correct thickness, so I can now drive it. I'm not frustrated at anyone here, just at the auto parts places for sending the wrong parts and having to wait a week for shipping.
     
  5. SteveRacer

    SteveRacer Well-Known Member

    I'm curious as to what you ended up with for your ac belt.? I have attempted to modify my stock ac bracket for the vintage air compressor and I'm going to try an autozone 15660 belt or a gates 7665, (66" and 66.5" respectively). I may ultimately end up buying one of longhorns brackets if I don't have success with the modded bracket. His bracket definitely looks a lot better. I trust it is working out for you?
     
  6. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    Yeah, the bracket is working out great. I ordered this belt from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NTLQT6Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00), part number 66015. I thought it was working well, but it is now squealing, and I have the tensioner maxed out. Even with the tnesioner at its loosest, it's a bit difficult to get the belt on, so I think you have to tension the alternator AFTER tensioning the AC compressor, so that the alternator will help keep the AC belt tension up.

    The problem I'm having is that a lot of belts use the same belt for the 13 and 15 width, but they're not actually interchangeable. The bracket itself is great, but the belt selection is being a huge pain.
     
  7. SteveRacer

    SteveRacer Well-Known Member

    sounds like the tension slot could be a little longer ?
     
  8. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    Or I need a shorter belt, which I just ordered. The one that's on there is 66 inches. I need a 65.5 inch belt, but they don't exist. So, I'm going to try and get a 65 inch belt to work by installing it with the alternator and AC compressor tension loose. I've been installing the AC belt with the alternator belt already installed, so hopefully that will loosen things a little bit.
     
  9. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    Hey guys I would defiantly install both belts at the same time no tension, tension the alternator first, then the compressor.
    dmruschell is correct from my experience the different belt manufacturers seem to change up part numbers or interchange from one manufacturer to the next.
     
  10. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    I got the 65 inch belt to work. I loosened the alternator tension and had the compressor tension as loose as possible with the tensioner bolt installed, and it still woudln't fit. So, I removed the compressor tensioner bolt, which gave me just enough clearance to get the belt on. I still think a 65.5 inch belt would work better, but unfortunately, they aren't made.

    The tension slot being a little longer might be a good thing to implement on future iterations, since there are gaps in the sizes for these longer belts.

    I also just thought of using a turnbuckle between the alternator bracket and the unused mounting bolt hole on the top of the compressor instead of the tensioner on the bracket. I had to use the turnbuckle with my old setup, but didn't think to use it with this bracket. The turnbuckle would allow for adjustments beyond the limits of the tensioner. If only I had thought of it sooner lol.
     
  11. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    I certainly can make the tensioner slot "longer" to give more travel. And will look into it before I cut another run of brackets.
     
  12. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    :) it's always great when someone who is making a product listens to feedback. Thanks again so much for making these!
     
  13. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    Looking at the picture you posted of your setup..... You mentioned that you has a turnbuckle.... could you remove your adjuster bolt and use the top compressor hole along with the round hole in the alternator tensioner bracket?

    I have also adjusted my compressor tensioner to include an additional 10 degrees of rotation.
     
  14. dmruschell

    dmruschell Well-Known Member

    That's actually what I did with my old setup. I just didn't think of it since the bracket has a tensioner, and I'm not sure the turnbuckle I have is the correct length for this setup. I'm sure it will work, though, since I did it with my old setup if I got the correct length turnbuckle.
     
  15. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    Hey guys just wanted to put it out there, if anyone is interested. I have one more bracket welded boxed and ready to ship with 2 more ready to be welded and sent out.
     
  16. Jack C

    Jack C Member

    I know the bracket is designed for a 455. But at the beginning of the thread, someone mentioned Buick brackets were interchangeable. Has anyone tried this bracket or have an opinion if it would work on a 350? '68 Skylark 350.
     
  17. Buickstaged

    Buickstaged The stable - 2204 Combined HP

    Dmrushel, great to follow through with. I received a bracket as well. I see that you used a 65" belt, what width did you end up with? Thx byron
     
  18. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    Here the bracket is bolted to a 350, it appears as though with the proper pulley configuration the bracket will work as intedned

    A39B0B7F-F1F3-4B78-8FB4-DB629A45736E.jpg
    A39B0B7F-F1F3-4B78-8FB4-DB629A45736E.jpg
    AED64746-88AE-4900-91D9-29ACCCB56439.jpg
     
  19. kev 190164

    kev 190164 kev spider

    hello really glad I come across this thread I have a 79 trans am fitted with a buick 455 . i bought this kit I asked for brackets for a buick 455 but they sent me Pontiac 455 brackets. will the bracket your selling fit the compressor in this lnk .http://www.vintageair.com/images/Firebird Display for web.jpg . cheers kev
     
  20. LonghornSS

    LonghornSS Well-Known Member

    Last I talked to VA they did not have a 455 Buick engine bracket.

    Yes my bracket will fit the compressor pictured in that link. I cannot say how the bracket will work with the rest of the accessories under the hood though..... I also cannot say what kind of space issues you may run into with the fender braces and inner fender/rad cradle support brackets on the 79 trans am.

    A couple of good pictures under the hood may be in order. I am assuming this was a non A/C Car.

    I never heard of a Buick in a T/A, I thought the T/A occasionally used Olds motors in them No?
     

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