hi,
re
"Yes, the bolt goes thru both ears on the alternator, but on the
original bracket there were also front and rear ears too.  The new
bracket has only a rear piece which seems to me puts more lateral
stress on that lower bolt.  Time will tell."

I hope it works out well.
Sure seems that having front and rear 'ears' on the bracket would be
important.
Even better would be a  solid tube with the 80 mm long bolt going though it,
and alternator fitting down over that tube .

In gasoline engines there is less vibration and stress to deal with, so
stamped steel alternator brackets work 'well enough'..
but for a serious alternator bracket...as used on diesel engines, only cast
iron brackets are strong enough - kinda interesting to me.

On one 1.9 waterboxer engine of mine, someone had added a bracket on top of
the alternator, about 6 inches long, going forward to the coolant pipe
that's on top of a 1.9 wbxr engine.  Thought that was interesting too.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Katy Hahn" <ahwahneevw@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: GoWesty Alternator Bracket

> Oops, I was referring to the length of the bolt -- should have said so
> I guess, the GoWesty instuctions just call it an '80mm bolt' (slightly
> longer than the original lower mounting bolt because of the way it
> threads into the new bracket).  As for the rest...
>
> On 3/5/10, Scott Daniel  - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>>> Biggest design concern I have is that the bracket only offers a rear
>>> support (the original had support for the lower alternator mount both
>>> front and rear.
>>
>> I must not be understanding you.
>> surely, the bottom pivot bolt goes through both the front and the rear
>> 'mounting ears' of the alternator !
>
> Yes, the bolt goes thru both ears on the alternator, but on the
> original bracket there were also front and rear ears too.  The new
> bracket has only a rear piece which seems to me puts more lateral
> stress on that lower bolt.  Time will tell.
>
> Geo