March Alternator Bracket

[Justin Upchurch]

Does anyone have the part number for the March alternator bracket that will clear the frame for the Windsor block?

Justin

[nolastyankee]

Justin,
We used 30050 on our car. FYI, we ended up making a bunch of custom spacers and buying a Ford smog rail fitting to get this thing to work. Unless you have the Ford water pump, plan on a bunch of hand fitting!

Don't get me wrong, the bracket was great, but nothing seemed to line up right with our Edelbrock water pump, the March bracket, and the World Heads.

[Justin Upchurch]

Thanks Brian. I haven't seen the water pump yet, so I don't know what brand it is.
What bracket has others used, March or other brand?

Justin

[Brent]

I know they ran up against that on Juan's car as well. Nothing lined up, new bolts, diff. spacers, etc.

[will butterworth]

Wound up jury rigging, looks not good, but have some parts in works to clean it up.Will-alabama

[Justin Upchurch]

Will do you want to have a second set of parts made?

Justin

[eliminator]

Brents right, on Juans car I made all new spacers from Stainless Steel. We used a 289 front cover on the 302 and installed a mechanical fuel pump.
Had a lot of work to make it work out, modified the water pump studs, and used the original style dip stick that goes on the front cover. Time consuming but nice when you get it right.

[will butterworth]

Justin--naw, reckon not, we are pulling some parts together to make it look and work right. But. i appreciate it.Will-alabama

[Justin Upchurch]

I think I will try the March bracket. However I am useing a GM 1 wire alternator, how will this change things?

Justin

[nolastyankee]

Our alternator is essentially a GM 1 wire...This neither hurts nor helps the March bracket. Plan on all new spacers unless your water pump lines right up!

[will butterworth]

we used gm 1 wire too. Spaced it up a bit too.Will-alabama

[Justin Upchurch]

Well guys we will see what happens whithin the next couple of weeks. Both the car and the bracket should arrive by then.

Justin

[Tony Radford]

I don't get it. I have a GM alternator and Edelbrock high volumn water pump. I spoke with one of the March techs, told him what I had and he set me up with everything I needed. It went together great.

[Justin Upchurch]

Tony,
Do you have a part number?

Justin

[nolastyankee]

Tony,
On our car the March bracket would physically bolt right up without issue. However, when I got the T-squares out I found that it wasn't sitting parallel to the face of the engine either vertically or horizontally. The bracket was in 'bind' due to spacer dimensions, and the pulley was 1/8" out of alignment. While it would have worked, the alignment wasn't correct and the bolts were not pulling square.

It's great that the March bracket went right on for you, I wish I was as fortunate. However, there is no way any bracket maker can account for all of the subtle differences in manufacturing tolerances by different suppliers, even to a set of 'common' specs.

Just to be clear, the spacers we made moved the mounting points +/- 1/8" from where they were originally. Not a ton, but enough to have the pulley both in-line with the belt and square to the rotating assembly.

[Tony Radford]

Brian, that's the engineer in you showing. In my world, we measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chaulk and hit it with an ax. It does appear to line up well. The belt is in a common plane. After reading all the replies on this thread, I can only conclude that my guardian angle was at the March factory that day. Probably a good thing as I lack patience in the "fitment" area.

[nolastyankee]

Tony,
I appreciate your politeness...I am genetically predisposed to over-engineering and over-thinking everything. That's why our car is so far over-budget and off-schedule. On the positive side, I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that bracket is right on the money!

[wlewis]

The guy who built my car, an extreme perfectionist, and a understatement at that, spent 14 hours making a bracket from scratch, presumabley because nothing else fit. If you'd like a picture of it, send me an e mail address, as I haven't yet figured out how to post pictures.
Walter