im tearing out my ac system even the condencer...im also tearing out the smog pump and installing exhaust manifolds...im cleaning it up ...when i take all that crap out..i want to also take the ac and smog pump bracket out ..my ? is wat do i put instead for the belt tensioner because the stock is one piece with the ac bracket...
5.0 305 tpi trans am

 

1st thing - replace the american muscle in your info and put in your car specs so we know what we're dealing with - we need info, and unless you are typing it in with every question, we can't help. We need a year.

I'm assuming you have the serp belt system?

If so, you cannot just remove the bracket - it's like you stated, the tensioner pulley needs to remain intact. Also, you cannot remove the A/C unless you install a delete pulley in it's place (can get at NAPA for $39). There is a way to remove smog pump and reroute a different length belt, but the A/C (or a delete pulley in place of) must remain.

The problem is the water pump - if you have a serp system then you have a reverse rotation water pump - the belt has to routed in such a way so that the water pump is getting turned in a reverse rotation. The other problem is that, there is no adjustment of the belt other than the tensioner pulley, so there's no way to tighten the belt even if you replaced the w/p with a standard rotation.

But I think I know what you are trying to do - the same as I did - get rid of A/C and smog and clean up the bay - but it's much more involved than just yanking the stuff out. Here's what I did ...

1) replace water pump with a standard rotation pump
2) replace alternator with one for a 1987 car - you need the alternator with mounting bolt holes at 12oclock and 6oclock (the serp alternator is closer to 12oclock and 4oclock)
3) move alternator to pass side with an old school style bracket that connects to intake and waterpump
4) get the March p/s bracket 20165 and remove the serp bracket on the driver side too (don't need now that alt has been moved to pass side)
5) get a harmonic balancer pulley that has both serp and v-belt grooves (from 1987 car)

This setup has the alt on pass side, p/s on driver side. No more smog or A/C. Runs a serp belt from crank to w/p to alt, runs a vbelt from crank to p/s to w/p. It's a nice clean setup, but not cheap, since you have to replace everything basically - but it's one of the few ways to do it. Alt bracket $30 at autozone. P/S bracket $105 + ship from summit - it's expensive, but the ONLY one that works (I tried them all). W/P $90 from autozone. Alt $120 from autozone.

But you can recoup some cash by selling the serp setup, as alot of folks want it for some reason (I think it's fugly).

Here's a pic where you can kinda see:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l.../cleanbay1.jpg