Good morning,

Having a bit of an issue getting one bracket to line up on 455 power steering pump. It’s the rear bracket to the exhaust manifold bolt. Have spacers in on one connecting to the block and one near timing. Everything looks right and fits well, but….the gap for the rear bracket is 1 1/4 inches put too far from the exhaust manifold bolt to secure properly. Any help with this?

 

Was all of this stuff on the car originally or are you starting from scratch ? It is a Toronado ?

 

We started from scratch. Everything looked good until we got to the rear bracket.

 

I might have a parts illustration book at the shop for that year. My one I have here at home does not go back that far. Joe P probably has one too. It is a 71 Toronado ?

 

‘70 442

 

Ok, because the picture you posted is for an E body which is a Toronado and might be totally different. Ill see what I can find.

 

I wonder if you have the wrong pump bracket ? The parts book only shows one from 68 to 71 but then 72 is different. Any chance there is a number stamped anywhere in the bracket ?

 

The 1968-90 PS pump brackets have different part numbers, but they are dimensionally interchangeable. That's not the problem.

 

I ASSUME you have all the fasteners on the bracket loose before you attempt to install that brace, correct? It appears that the nuts on the studs to the block are tight. Loosen them all up, install the brace, then tighten everything.

 

I'm not sure that is the correct bracket. Where is the alternator on your car ? On my Wife's Riviera (307 Olds engine) and on a friends 76 442 with a transplanted 455 the alternator bracket bolts to that spot and the alternator is right above the PS pump. But it might be different on AC vs non AC cars ? Ill see if I can get some pictures later on.

 

It is the correct bracket. The PS pump bracket is the same for both A/C and non-A/C cars.

 

Where would the alternator be on his car ?

 

On the passenger side.

 

I’m not sure if this helps but here is a pic of my olds 455 power steering bracket from my 76 cutlass non a/c car.

 

Looks like if that is correct then the end of the bracket that bolts to the head should be bent some at an angle. Which is "sort" of how some of the parts diagrams look.

 

Look at the two brackets in this post. Looks like if you had the shorter one at the bottom it would line up better ? I am not sure if it's the same bracket, hard to tell the orientation of his picture.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...8669-a-146767/

Maybe send a PM to Rocketman269V and ask him. He was on the forum this morning.

 

Thanks for all of the input so far. This is on a ‘70 442 auto with A/C, so alternator is on the driver side above power steering. All the diagram, drawings, photos I can find show this as correct. I’ll try loosening all the bracket bolts up and getting the rear bracket on again. I’ve even looked at another ‘70 442 w/A/C to compare, but it’s tough to see clearly with all the belts and wiring in there.

 

Here is a pretty good pic of my 1970 350 non ac motor on the run stand .a couple things I would mention ( as Joe stated ) make sure all bolts are loose at the start . I would also try and drape your belt on just to check your alignment. Your upper most bracket bolt in the water pump shows no shim behind it whereas most of my stuff needed various shimming to get the belt alignment right . ( not always necessary). Good luck 🍀

 

There was no shim there from the factory.

 

I did look at the diagram and agree there was no shim from the factory, so long as the op has all the correct brackets , pulleys , water pump and hardware . If that’s the case then putting everything together loosely it should all fall into place .

 

If it makes any difference (at all) the brace itself (Part # 398669) on my 1971 Cutlass Supreme 350 cid (w/AC) measures EXACTLY 5.00" in length at its widest point (front-to-back) & 6 3/8" total length (front-to-back).

 

The water pumps are all the same thickness there. The brackets are dimensionally the same from 1968-1990. The pulleys are irrelevant here since this is a bracket fitment issue, not a pulley alignment issue.

 

Part # 398669

 

So what does the alternator bracket look like ? On my car the alternator bracket bolts on in place of the small brace that you are trying to use.

 

The 1970 alternator bracket for A/C cars is completely different from yours and does not interface with the PS pump bracket. The OP has the correct brackets. He has the correct spacers. He simply needs to loosen the other fasteners to get the brace into place. We've spent about two orders of magnitude more time talking about this than it takes to fix it.

 

Just wondering , do you have the spacer between the lower rear bracket and engine block? Part # 398917 on diagram..

 

From the very first post:

Also, if that spacer were missing, the PS pump bracket would be angled CLOSER to the exhaust manifold, so he'd have the opposite problem.

 

I ordered a pizza - transitioning to a third order of magnitude.

 

Joe, thanks so much. I’ll be getting this loosened and set up next weekend. I appreciate yo and your wealth of Olds knowledge….whenever you post I get the goods. Thank you!

 

I didn't see the "H" shaped brace that straddles the valve cover; PN 38887 in Joe;s post #25. The OP posted a diagram for a non-AC E-body car, which doesn't have the alt on the driver's side. Do you have the brace circled in red?
Rodney

 

Yes, that’s already on and attached to the alternator.

 

The OP posted the correct diagram for the PS pump bracket installation for his car. It doesn't show the alternator bracket because the alternator location is irrelevant for 1970 as far as the PS pump bracket is concerned. If you read the Product Information Manual, you'll find that these drawings typically only show the item in question. Adjoining items are not shown unless they actually are part of the installation.