Need help aligning alternator pulley on Saleen setup

[Pumpkinfish]

Long story short I have had a chirp that I tracked down to my alternator. I have a new alternator from Ford and a new Saleen alternator bracket. I also double checked with GI Joe how the Saleen alternator bracket should be shimmed with his 8 rib kit. Everything is setup correctly.

I borrowed the Gates belt laser alignment tool from a friend and found that my alternator has an angular misalignment. When I shoot from the blower to the alternator, the light is off by a half rib. When I shoot back from the alternator to the blower, I am off by half a rib but opposite side, which confirms the angular misalignment. I made the attached diagram to illustrate the laser pointing on the top and the angle on the bottom.

My question is, do I want to shim the amount of a rib or half a rib? Also, with the three legs of the Saleen alternator bracket, do I want to shim the two on the right hand side or just one?

Finally, the Gates tool has an acceptable margin of error. It states for a 6" distance between pulleys half a rib is acceptable,. This distance is 2" to 3" so I am guessing that I have little to no margin of error using their guide.

 

[Redfire281]

Are you sure it's the alternator bracket that is causing the misalignment and not the blower? Before shimming a brand new bracket I'd realign the Supershaker by loosening the eight intake bolts and pulling the shaker as far forward as possible, firmly tighten the bolts and recheck the alignment. If that fixes the angular alignment issue, torque the intake bolts to spec. If that doesn't fix the issue then I guess modding the alternator bracket is the only thing left to do.

 

[Pumpkinfish]

It has been a while since I installed the Saleen. I honestly forget how much adjustment there may be. I'll have to try and loosen it for adjustment. Thanks for the idea as I have been so focused on the alternator.

 

[Pumpkinfish]

Are you sure it's the alternator bracket that is causing the misalignment and not the blower? Before shimming a brand new bracket I'd realign the Supershaker by loosening the eight intake bolts and pulling the shaker as far forward as possible, firmly tighten the bolts and recheck the alignment. If that fixes the angular alignment issue, torque the intake bolts to spec. If that doesn't fix the issue then I guess modding the alternator bracket is the only thing left to do.

I tried moving the blower around what little movement it had and it didn't change anything. It was worth a shot!

I guess I need to buy a handful of different washers at the local hardware store and just fiddle with it until I get the pulleys aligned.

 

[TexasBlownV8]

...even the same-size washers come in different thicknesses, if you get them out of a large bin. You can pick and choose some that way, to help with shimming

 

[michael.konor]

Go to harbor freight and get you one of the $15.00 digital micrometers to match thickness.

 

[Pumpkinfish]

Already have calipers. I just need to figure out what the exact size is on one rib. Then I can do half rib and full rib thickness. I can't wait until I get this all sorted out!