A friend set me up with a belt tensioner, so I started to figure out what to do with it. Originally it went on the upper right on the engine, but that is where the alternator is now. I was happy with the battery wiring to the alternator and starter, so I didn’t want to move that. There are two mounting holes in the front of the left head, but they are not in the correct plane for the belt to line up properly. I mocked up a mount using some long bolts, and got the belt path worked out. The tensioner needs to be oriented so the 3rd mounting hole is up in the air with nothing behind it. The tensioner is too strong to be supported by just two bolts screwed into the head, so I am going to try to make a bracket that will bolt to the front of the left head. My plan is to use thickwall tubing (actually an old alternator mount spacer from an SBC) to space it out 1.5″ from the head. I’m not sure if the bracket will pick up that 3rd mount hole, or if I will cut that off. The belt works out to be about 60″, and that looks ok as far as what lengths are available from the parts store.
