While I was pulling belts to facilitate some front engine work I had a hell of a time getting the alternator belt loose enough to come off.

As I look at the alternator it appears that the belt tension bracket doesn't align with the arc swing of the alternator. As you can see in the pictures below the adjustment bolt is only in the adjust channel for a small distance.

Do I have the wrong bracket or the wrong alternator or both? Could the alternator be installed wrong? Niether one looks like what is in the WSM!

 

I took a quick look at SharkSkin's website write up on the Alternator, and from the pictures, your bracket appears ok. Does yours have the adjuster nut like his? Not shown in your photo...

http://members.rennlist.com/sharkski...Alternator.htm

 

Jim, there should be a single, long bolt that goes through the alternator bracket into the block at the top of the alternator. This bolt is a bear to get put back on correctly. You might check and see if its correctly bolted on and aligned. This will throw off the lower alignment of the alternator.

 

Looks just like mine on my 82MY. IIRC, I had to loosen the bolt were the bracket bolts to the block to allow swing while adjusting, then tightening down just before finnal tension is achived.

 

+1... should be an adjuster nut setup

 

My adjuster nut and bolt is the same. With it installed I could only get .5 inch travel before it felt like it hit a stop. Once removed it swings freely as shown in the pictures.

I can install the belt with the bolt out and then use to tension. Is that the process others are using?