I have no idea if my title will make the thread relevant for future searches and I'm having a heck of a time finding what I'm looking for...so...

As I'm putting my FD back together, the dreaded disease known as WECID has struck me on several occasions. WECID = What Else Can I Do.

In the newest iteration on my sweet ride I've gone to a manual steering solution hence no longer needing the Power steering pulling or pump or fluid reservoir. Last year at the Mitty, I saw a FD that had a manual steering rack and the bracket that bolts to the side of the block which the AC and PS in turn bolt to was cut down roughly in 1/2. This created quite a nice bit of space.

So long story short...

I'm interested in cutting the bracket in 1/2, eliminating the Power Steering Pulley and the small idler pulley to the side of it and keeping the AC compressor. I'm looking for those who have pulled this off and has pictures of such a setup or relevant threads?

Thank you!

 

Idk how you would be able to tighten the belt, the A/C compressor itself cant really be moved out to tension the belt once installed. You'd have to add in some kind of tensioner. Either that or leave the stock tensioner and just cut everything around it.

You can pretty much find a belt of any size you want to fit it after you figure out the design.

The bracket itself is easy to cut, hacksaw will chew through it, or when I cut mine for the supercharger I just used a grinder with a cutoff wheel.

 

I'm curious to see what others have done also.

 

I know base model FC's had a small bracket for just the AC compressor (FC's that didn't come with power steering). In theory, that should bolt up to the FD block, and I think the bolt pattern for the compressor should be the same.

BUT, the FC uses V-belts to drive the AC and stuff, not serpentine. The tensioner wouldn't work at all, and I doubt it would put the AC compressor where it needs to be to line up belt-wise. But, that might be a good base to start fabrication with. And, I think in the FC classifieds you can find one free or cheap.

Dale

 

I removed my PS and still retain my A/C. I will give you a few points of how I did it.

1. You will need a tensioner for the A/C belt so keep the OEM PS idler pulley in its normal location. I run the grooved side of the belt down to the smooth idler. It doesn't effect it at all. I have had ZERO issues for a few thousand miles. Just keep the belt properly tightened. There was talk of using a grooved pulley from a Taurus and making a custom spacer. After searching, there wasn't much information except another member that ran his with the rib side down and had no problems. I chose this route because its easy, and I am very glad I didn't have to reinvent the wheel.

2. To aquire a belt just measure it with a string and go to your local autoparts store. At this point you can see that we are going from the main pulley, over the idler, over the A/C, and back. An easy triangle. Get the proper number of ribs that match the main & A/C pulley. As mentioned, the idler doesn't matter.

3. As you noticed, you will have a small crest where your PS pump used to sit on the bracket. I considered chopping this down as well. But before I did, I found a better use. I found it is an easy way to mount my AST. Engine pics are in my build thread. Link in my Sig. If you have other means to mount your AST then you can grind down the bracket. Just be careful how much you take away. You want to keep enough of the bracket to retain tensile strength.