Found this part laying underneath my 72 Cutlass after replacing the fuel pump, water pump and alternator belt. Have no idea what it is or where it goes....I have reassembled the car and it seems to run fine so it's obviously not a critical piece but I would still like to put it back where it goes!! Can anybody id this mystery part? Thanks!!

 

Sorry for the blurry pics but I've got a cheap camera.

 

It's the dime you stop on, did you just do your brakes too? I found a rod bolt in my oil drain pan a couple of years ago and can't figure out where or what car it would of came from so I tossed it, ignorance is bliss. Hopefully that is a spacer for a bracket or the alternator, or it could be for nothing.

Allan

 

It looks like a spacer from one of the accessory brackets.

 

looks like a pilot bushing.goes in the back of the crank....is your car a stick?

 

Sure looks like a pilot bushing to me.

 

car is an automatic.

 

Looks like the spacer that goes between the lower-power steering bracket and the block. Mine "fell out" after I got everything apart, as the grime held it in longer.
Since you changed the water pump, you would have had to pull the steering pump also...

 

YOU ARE SCREWED! That is your muffler bearing. Take your car apart and put it back in right away before you blow the engine!

 

LOL!

 

I definately agree with Rob. I've dropped and/or forgot to replace mine more times than I want to admit. Without it, some of your belt alignments may be off. The good news is that you can put it back without removing everything again.
Now, I have to go look for my muffler bearing...

 

Well, I decided not to deal with it anymore and took the car up to my local GoodYear service center and told them I needed to have my muffler bearing reinstalled...they said they do that all the time and that was a common problem on these older cars. So, I feel better knowing things are back together the way they should be....just don't feel too good about spending the $275. Thanks to everyone for helping me identify the bearing!! Next time I'll be more careful.

 

You can see the part in this picture, at the left of the steering pump pulley. http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsalbum/2575146067/
It fits between the rear lower pump bracket to block.

I wish I would have known it was the muffler bearing.
Looks like another project this weekend, grumble, grumble...

 

Rob has nailed it.

 

Is that a plain jane production muffler bearing, or a clone of a low production-special ordered-numbers matching-1 of 1-dealer installed-hypo racing muffler bearing?

 

Yep, lower power steering pump bracket spacer. Positively identified in Figure 9-33 on page 9-21 of my 1971 Olds Service Manual and in the pic supplied in the previous message...Thanks to everyone for the info....and the humor .

 

^^ I thought only Civics had those

 

You only paid $275!! I had to pay like $350 for that a few months ago!

 

My 442 came stock with no muffler ...

Just tuned pipes ...

 

My 57 Olds came with roller muffler bearings. Later years had the cheaper bronze bearings.

 

I don't think that's a spacer of any kind, who machines a spacer and drills a hole through it? unless I'm seeing things. The inside and outide chamfer is usually there because it fits over a shaft and/or in something, like a pilot bearing or bushing, or for a tool. I've seen tent parts with a wire bale through holes like that too though. On my car that bracket spacer isn't even the diameter of a dime and it's raw painted steel, probably made from steel tube stock. I think it's some sort of shaft bushing or a part for a floor jack. Does the car have dual exhaust? then I would say it's a left muffler bearing bushing disgronificator, can only use a left hand wrench on those.

Allan