Broken Alternator Bolt - In HEAD...

[64c20crewcab]

I was driving my 38 miles home from work today. Heard some squealing goin on and thought it was the POS next to me on highway. It was not - IT WAS MY RIG. I pulled over to WTF is goin on and I find that the lower alternator mount bolt on my pre 87 sb350 broke off in the head. It did not break flush - non of it is sticking out. I guess I'm gonna be down until I can get one of them bolt extractor I guess. Any ideas here? Can I relocate the alternator to the drivers side? I am running the ram horn ex-manifold & the driverside has the 2 holes towards the front. Again - any ideas?

Thanks!!!

[LILRED66]

Drill it for an easy-out and pray for good results. They will come out this way. If not, drill the hole the size of the bolt and install a heli-coil and put an over-size bolt in it.

You can relocate to the drivers side with the alternator brackets by Mr. Gasket, available at your FLAPS (favorite local auto parts store).

[old Chevy guy]

Do you have the brackets that hang on the water pump on the bottom and bolt from the gooseneck and the pump on the top. When I swaped a SBC 283 into my 61 apache I had those brackets with the alternater on the passengers side.The brackets and the pulleys came off a 307 that I had in a 69 camaro. Anyway a 283 didnt have a hole in the head for that long bolt on the bottom of the alternator,so I used a shorter bolt with a nut. There is a spacer behind the alternater about 2'' long I left that out so the alternator was just bolted to that lower bracket that hangs on the pump.I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right but it worked no problem for years.

[64c20crewcab]

Thanks guy's!! Come to think of it I had the alt on the d-side on my sb400 in my last c-10. Used a header / F bracket with the thin arm - same if not similar to Tony's setup. I know the kit is cheap and seen it at the local shop. I did buy the bolt extractor bit this eve. But will stop on by and grab the d-side kit tomorrow before I drill the head. Besides I was gonna swap the intake out to an Edelbrock manifold with the oil filler tube for the "Old'z Kewl" look. Guess now is as good a time as any....

[jonzcustomshop]

here is the best trick in the book....
get a nut that would fit on the bolt that sheared off.
hold/clamp it around the hole, where the sheared off stud is.
then weld the center of the nut to the sheared off stud.
this does a couple of things..
it heats the sheared off stud, freeing any rust/dirt that was freezing it in place, and it gives you a good head to get a wrench on.

another method, that is basically the same process, is to weld a washer to the bolt.(the flat surface gives you better access to weld just to the bolt)
then weld a large nut to the washer-one that would take a 3/4-7/8 wrench.
sometimes it is easier to weld the center of the nut to the washer when there is more room to move the tip around.

[jason65]

If its not rusted in or cross threaded you should be able to take a left handed drill bit to it and un screw it. With the head of the bolt broken off there should not be any pressure on it.

[ChiefRocka]

If you cant get a welder or easy out in there (the best route)...You can keep the alternator on the same side and always mount it off the waterpump as well. (if you have the mounting points on there)
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[64c20crewcab]

Don't have a welder, not do I know how. Its another one of the things I wanted to pick up this year but will see what my bolt on options are first. The sheared off bolt broke off bout 1/8 " or more inside the bolt hole. If needed, I think I can get the drill w/t extractor bit in there after I remove the fan shroud. Will see what happens..... thanks for all the info!!

[jchav62]

I've been there before! Sucks! Sometimes you'll get lucky and the bolt will come loose while you're drilling it. The heat caused by drilling it really helps. If you end up keeping the alt on the passenger side, make sure you have the bracket goes to the water pump on the lower alt bolt. I had mine rigged up for awhile on the '51 I used to own. I had the long bolt that goes through that alt to the head with a spacer, and the upper bolt to the up alt bracket and that was it. That's why I kept breaking those bolts. It couldn't handle the vibration. As soon as I added the other bracket, it didn't happen again. Good luck!

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by jchav62

........make sure you have the bracket goes to the water pump on the lower alt bolt. I had mine rigged up for awhile on the '51 I used to own. I had the long bolt that goes through that alt to the head with a spacer, and the upper bolt to the up alt bracket and that was it. That's why I kept breaking those bolts. It couldn't handle the vibration......

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This is very true....I have seen it happen way too many times...even on my buddys jet-boat several times, untill I installed a brace.

[jgarverick]

easiest thing to do is weld a nut on and turn it out. while its hot put a candle to it that helps a bunch too. can you see why it broke? overtight? bolt loose? it would suck to fix it just to have it happen again next week.... not that thats ever happened to me of course...

[64c20crewcab]

joe, I don't have the outer bracket. bought truck in 01/05. and never had this issue till now. then again I never drove it as far on a daily basis till now. off work soon so i'll be pickin up a 90 degree adapter for my drill and get a set of alt brackets for either side as well. THANKS Y'ALL

[64c20crewcab]

Well I gotta get my daily driver drivable tonight. So I went to Home Depot and purchased a right angle adapter for my corded drill. Then to Kragen/O'Riley to grab the passenger side chrome alt bracket kit. All-n-all bout 50 bucks (incl the extractor bit). Now will spend the night in the garage trying to make this happen. Not a major job by any means but its my main mode of transport - for now..... will see what happens.....