AC brackets driving me crazy!

[flyboy2610]

To quote Bill Murray in "Stripes!":
"Gentlemen, we...are...in...GERMANY!!!"
In other words, the compressor is in.
(Does his best self confident Ernest P. Worrell imitation.)
Yes, there were times when I was afraid I would NEVER accomplish the task before me. BUT, I never gave up. For I know that the only way to climb the mountain is one step at a time. There were times when I slipped and fell, but you, my dear friends, gave me advice and comfort, thus enabling me to continue my march towards victory.
And like gravy on mashed potatoes, I have come out on top!


OK, enough of that.
I wound up using the black aftermarket compressor bracket, and running the compressor off of groove #4. (SteveC, the pulley I got from you didn't line up quite right. Close, though.)
I had to do some shimming of the bracket, and changed compressor pulleys to use the newest compressor I have, but everything lines up properly.

compressor installed.jpg

You can see, just below the compressor, the idler pulley for the PS pump. I haven't seen a PS bracket with that idler pulley before, but it came from an FE engine, it all bolted and lined up, so I decided to keep it, cause it's different.

alternator view.jpg

I had to shim out the idler pulley to get it line up with the groove on the crank pulley. That meant a trip to TSC to buy a longer 1/2" fine thread bolt, plus a nut for the back. I shimmed it out with washers. Anybody with a lathe interested in making me a spacer out of aluminum bar stock? I don't have a lathe, and the drill press is busted.

idler spacer.jpg

I couldn't get a good shot of it, but the alternator attachment at the water pump is now REAL close to the fan pulley, thanks to the added thickness of the AC bracket. If I had used the original fan pulley, it would hit. But when I got the PS bracket, and the factory style AC compressor bracket, I also got the fan pulley off the same truck. Good thing I did, cause it was smaller in diameter. It doesn't hit the alternator bolt, but it's real close! I have had the engine running, and have revved it suddenly by hand, and nothing hits, so I'm confident it will be okay.

I am so glad I got this thing in! Now I just have to strip the interior, install the new firewall cover, and reinstall everything. Then I can add the interior AC unit, mount the condenser and receiver/dryer, have hoses made and charge the system.
Almost there, huh?

[fordman]

that idler with the power steering bracket is the right way it is suppose to be on factory a/c trucks.

[CVF Racing]

There are basically 2 different press-on power steering pulleys for Fords. Both have the same inside diameter, so it is easy to mix the two of them up. The pulley used mostly on 289 & 302 engines has an offset (from front of pulley to center of V-groove) of 0.850 while the 351W/351C/429/460 pulley has an offset of 1.350 inches. Generally, the 302 pulley is 5 inches, and the 460 pulley is about 5.5", but the outside diameter isn't really that important...it just means that the pump spins a few RPM slower or faster, but either one will generally work.

We sell both PS pulleys in billet aluminum for $35 + $10 shipping, but if you are getting parts out of a salvage yard, this may not be within the budget you are looking for. Anyway, I hope this helps. I will try to post some pics if I can figure it out....

Nate French
CVF Racing
http://www.CVFRacing.com

[CVF Racing]

Here are some pictures...

PS Dimensions.jpg

SBF1PS.JPG

[flyboy2610]

That's a nice pulley!
When (if!) the pickup gets to the engine rebuilding stage, I'll keep that in mind!
Thanks!

[BigEd]

There are basically 2 different press-on power steering pulleys for Fords. Both have the same inside diameter, so it is easy to mix the two of them up. The pulley used mostly on 289 & 302 engines has an offset (from front of pulley to center of V-groove) of 0.850 while the 351W/351C/429/460 pulley has an offset of 1.350 inches. Generally, the 302 pulley is 5 inches, and the 460 pulley is about 5.5", but the outside diameter isn't really that important...it just means that the pump spins a few RPM slower or faster, but either one will generally work.

We sell both PS pulleys in billet aluminum for $35 + $10 shipping, but if you are getting parts out of a salvage yard, this may not be within the budget you are looking for. Anyway, I hope this helps. I will try to post some pics if I can figure it out....

Nate French
CVF Racing
http://www.CVFRacing.com

Nice stuff but a minor correction, there are three common offsets for Ford V8's not two. The common offsets are the 70 and newer that you list as a 460, 429, 351 M and W (which actually also fit 351C and 302 but do not fit 429 and 460 in 68/69), the one you list for a 289/302 which also fits all 65-69 V8 with Ford pumps including 351W, 352, 390, 410, 427, and 428 and then there is the third one which you are not showing that is like the 6AA shown earlier in this thread which is also used on 65 to 69 289, 302, 351W, 352, 390, 410, 427, and 428 and measures .375 from the mounting flange face to the grove centerline. There is also a special pulley for 68 and 69 429/460 and of course several different combos for 6 cylinders. The other correction I would make is the diameters as you basically note two but depending on application there were well over 30 pulleys from 65-72 and more than 15 diameters from 4 7/16-6 3/8 (BTWthat does not count the really special ones). The diameters are not as critical but can be an issue if your vehicle came with a large one and you put a small one on or the other way around. Ed

[fordman]

i dont have any measurements but the fe engine has two different year pulleys also. they are split at 1970. the brackets go with hte matched pulleys. i'm not going to go into it much since john got his working for now. but it is all to do with brackets and the spacer for the brackets as well as offsets of the pulley. the pre 70 power steering bracket he has is not for a/c i dont think. the pre 70 a/c equipped truck had a place on them to bolt the idler pulley to them. as on my truck. you can see the two idler pulley for the pre 70 setup in the last picture. the one on the passenger side is bolted to the alt bracket and the drivers side is low and bolted onto the power steering bracket. this is similar to the post 70 trucks but the power steerign bracket is different butthe pulley still sits low under the a/c i think. i would have to look to be 100% on it position. i hope this helps someone.