The Shimmining... whereupon we shim a bracket (and then some) - 09/30/2017

Gotta get the engine running. And that means fixing the squeal. Preliminary research indicates alignment problems on 1985 and newer 307s are common if you leave belts off or do it improperly. Olds engines in general are pretty notorious for having power steering bracketry with multiple spacers that if left off cause this exact problem. Only annoyance is this is at the base of the engine so the top has to come off. Let's get cracking!



Begin at the beginning... a-yup... it's an engine...



The power steering belt is aligned improperly and rubbing here.



The compressor belt is off too oddly enough. The bolts don't look right and it doesn't sit correctly.



Alternator starts to come off.



CS-130 alternators are a new thing to me.



Alternator finally comes off. Bolts were put on incorrectly so it was a pain to get off.



Power steering mounting brackets start to come off.



Power steering pump and brackets all off. The rear bolt wasn't in.



The forward shim was installed, so that's good to know.



The rear hole in this bracket needs to be solidly mounted to the block.



Here it is. There's no spacer, Cadillac used a giant shim built into the motor mount. Unique to this car line apparently.



Measuring the hole size to locate a bolt from the bolt bin.



Knock sensor has to come out to loosen the motor mount...



And now it's aligned. Required loosening this nut and then using a prybar to raise the engine up almost 3/8". Then sliding bolt in to verify it threads in. I was afraid someone had broken the bolt off in the block...



...fortunately that was not the case. Bracket is ON! And not going anywhere.



Power steering pump is on now. Tensioned using a screwdriver through a secret hole. Don't ask...



Negative terminal and star washer. Star washer was missing of course.



This side is done. Fire it all up and it still squeals occasionally.



FINE. I'll fix the locked up compressor mounting. Fortunately the clutch is good and the pulley still freewheels. All bolts are corrected too.



And with the compressor on... no more squealing. Like at all. It's a miracle?



I dropped a tool and noticed that the catalytic converter has been removed and straight piped. That's one way to deal with a plugged converter... It'll never pass California smog though.

That took a lot longer than it should have, but whatever. Didn't cost me a penny to do any of it.

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Last updated August 23rd, 2018