BB Front End questions.

[alsriv2]

Been on here a long time and finally have gotten myself into a mess due to lost parts from the PO of my '69. The truck appears to be a original BB and the block is a '69 with '71 heads. All the holes appear to be drilled and tapped for some sort of bracket combination.
Bought the truck roughly 5 years ago with the engine and all the accessories removed, disassembled and in milk crates.
Got the engine professionally overhauled, dyno'd and installed minus any front end accessories. Now I am finalizing the installation with all the front end parts, I am in quandary and am looking for help.

Most of the brackets on the front end are aftermarket solid steel. No "factory original" parts seem to be present. The Sanden compressor from the vintage air system installed had brackets for the pump to be installed on the passenger side. The power steering pump was a newer Saginaw with reservoir type unit installed low on the drivers side, and the alternator on the driver's side above the power steering pump.
I have the brackets for the Saginaw power steering pump and only one piece of the alternator mount.

On all the aftermarket sights I am aware of, I can only find new brackets in my engine's configuration when the water pump is short shaft.
However, the original water pump was a long shaft, and that is what is installed.
I have bought numerous things to try to make something work including an original BB power steering pump (separate reservoir on the fender) and bracket set.

This puzzle has aggravated me to no end so where to start? Change to a short water pump? What is the correct water pump? Where to find brackets for a '69 BB with the alternator on the driver's side with a long pump?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CST10]

Try Alan Grove parts. They fabricate brackets like your looking for. Not period correct type but they work. These are the brackets that come with vintage air ac kits. Good product.

[WIDESIDE72]

Parts board on this site as well

[engineer_gregh]

Hi Al. My 71 BB came originally with the short water pump, A/C compressor on passenger side, alternator and p/s pump on drivers side. If you would like some detailed pictures I would be happy to provide them. IMO I would change the water pump to see if it makes the re-assembly easier.

[71 super]

All of our trucks were short water pump trucks and all correct brackets are based off of that co figuration, swap back to short pump and sounds like your stuff might work.

[cleanfreak]

Just looked at some pictures of your engine. You have long wp pulleys & pump (as you know). The factory stuff will not work with those pulleys & pump. X2 on Allan grove . take a look at their site , they offer brackets in the configuration you describe. Hope this helps a bit - Bob

[alsriv2]

Many thanks for all the information provided. This truck is the first BB I have worked on in Chevy products (more familiar with Buick). I know SB fairly well and have had to get creative on previous Chevy/GMC trucks I have owned. Part of my handicap is I bought this truck with the whole engine compartment in boxes and no pictures were available.

I knew the PO of the PO I bought the truck from really did some whacky things throughout the engine bay of the truck and now that I know I have some combination of short and long water pump bracket parts, everything is clearer now. Being that our BB setups were originally short water pumps, I am going to get the correct water pump and start from scratch.

Once again, thank you for your assistance.