AC Bracket issues

I got my brackets back from the powdercoater...problem the AC bracket does not fit. Its as if the bracket fits under the headbolt, not on top on the stud. Anyone else ever see this?? Its not off the thickness of the powdercoat, its off about the thickness of the headbolt.

Going through my reference pics when I took it apart and it appears it was under the head of the stud not on the stud like you would think it would be. I might be able to shave the bracket its doubled metal in that spot. I am worried if undo the torque on that one bolt what it will do to the seal of the heads not that they are torqued on.

Post a picture so we can see where it's off. It should mount on a stud headed head bolt. ?????

Here is the original photo before I took it apart. It looks like the stud on the rear compressor mount has a nut on it and is sitting higher than the stud on the front compressor mount. The one pic is the bracket on the stud, you can see how far off the bolts are, especially the water pump bolt. And the other is with the holes on the front lined up and the bracket lands around the top of the head (under the stud)

I got my brackets back from the powdercoater...problem the AC bracket does not fit. Its as if the bracket fits under the headbolt, not on top on the stud. Anyone else ever see this?? Its not off the thickness of the powdercoat, its off about the thickness of the headbolt.

Going through my reference pics when I took it apart and it appears it was under the head of the stud not on the stud like you would think it would be. I might be able to shave the bracket its doubled metal in that spot. I am worried if undo the torque on that one bolt what it will do to the seal of the heads not that they are torqued on.

The A/C bracket is captured under the head of the head bolt not on a stud. Dont worry about removing the head bolt to install the bracket. Just be sure to re-torque the bolt to specs, it`ll be OK.

Tom Mooney

Tom, only because you said so. I trust your years of experience with this things, but boy I didnt like the idea of pulling one head bolt. But I trust you. Front end mounts installed. Thanks

Tom certainly knows. I'll just add that this single bolt is longer than the others and can be mislocated into another location-in a bottom hole block location it will break that out and when a shorter bolt is then used for this bracket spot, stripping of the block threads. This goof isn't as likely with a non A/C car as 2 much longer shoulder type bolts are used for the alternator only alluminum bracket. I often see the studed rear head bolts that are for the firewall ground straps mislocated and the grounds either missing or flapped in the breeze. This can accompany the owner talking about the multi thousand $ rebuild recently completed=makes me question builder compentency on what we can't see.

Chris, noticed you are running the taller aluminum valve covers. The rear AC bracket is different on cars factory equipped with these. It is taller to clear the cover. Just a heads up when you get there. These are expensive and hard to find.

I'll chime in and agree that removing one head bolt and retorqueing is nothing to

worry about....that's been done in my shop a gazillion times with no consequence.

Those are actually factory tin covers, I just painted them aluminum But thanks for noticing

I just removed the same bolt to attach the a/c bracket on my engine. What if I find that the re-builder put a short bolt in that spot? Can I take out one bolt at a time and retorque it until I find the long one, then swap it? I have extra head bolts so there would never be more than one untorqued bolt out of the head at any one time.

Ed

I just removed the same bolt to attach the a/c bracket on my engine. What if I find that the re-builder put a short bolt in that spot? Can I take out one bolt at a time and retorque it until I find the long one, then swap it? I have extra head bolts so there would never be more than one untorqued bolt out of the head at any one time.

Ed

Sure, Ed, as long as you do it one bolt at a time, no problem. The other bolts will keep the squeeze on the head gasket, and you would not be running the engine with a bolt out.