Roland, are you sure thee are 'bolt or stud holes' in the block ? - like you
are finding threaded holes there with no studs or bolts in them ?
'What usually happens' is the studs break off in the block.
A nasty thing to repair.

Studs are a slightly better deal than bolts.
I was just putting a 2.1 waterboxer engine together, and knowing about this
quite common failure,
I noticed that I could make an alternator bracket that has  3 mounting
points....
the 3rd one being the bolt for a coolant flange, about an inch below the
alternator bracket.
( if anyone wants one, let me know and I build you one )

Everyone who owns an 86 or later Vanagon should check this.
1983 to 85 too, but it's the 2.1's that seem to do it the most.
If the studs break off, it's hours of what I call 'dental work'
.........drilling and tapping.  Not fun, well................ fun if you
like that sort of thing,
but far better to catch it early and get things tight again.
thread size is  8.0 X 1.25 mm - the common thread for all 8 mm diameter
fasteners on the whole van.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roland" <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 1:43 PM
Subject: Two bolts to mount the alternator bracket to the engine block are
just plain missing!

> Hello folks,
>
> Quick question.   My alternator was wiggling.  The bracket under the
> alternator mounts to the engine block with 2 bolts (maybe).  Both of these
> are missing, maybe they just worked themselves out, maybe a prior mechanic
> forgot lock washers.  I looked in the Bentley and it doesn't provide a
> spec.  Even worse the Bentley shows that there are supposed to be 2 studs
> that the bracket mounts on with 2 nuts!  Hey, I got no studs there.  I am
> happy to replace them with bolts, if I can find the right size, but please
> tell me if this would be a bad idea.
>
> But mainly I need the thread size for these studs/ bolts.  I measured a
> hole
> of about 25mm, and the bracket is about 10 mm, so I think a length of
> about
> 30-35 mm should do, assuming another 2-4 mm for lock washers.
>
> Thank you very much.
> Roland
> '89 Syncro.