When you first started daydreaming about your custom car project, chances are you gave little (if any) thought to the brackets and pulleys you'd use on the engine. Heck, you probably only gave the subject passing consideration when you selected a powerplant for your cruiser. Like so many details surrounding any automotive revival, brackets and pulleys barely register on the radar, at least until you realize you need them, or need different ones than those you have.

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If you're lucky, the engine in your project came with all the necessary accessory brackets and pulleys. Quite often, however, the addition of a non-stock option or two (like power steering or air conditioning) marks the beginning of the search for the right supporting parts. Sometimes the right brackets and pulleys can be scored in salvage yards or at swap meets. Other times an aftermarket setup is a better option, whether it's for the sake of appearance or to achieve a specific mounting arrangement that better fits the engine compartment in question.

As you might expect, the aftermarket is overflowing with bracket and pulley options for Chevy V-8s-both big-blocks and, especially, small-blocks. There's a pretty good selection for Ford small-blocks, too. Things are much more hit-and-miss when you start talking about non-Chevy big-blocks and other vintage mills, though.

When Kevin Grani decided to keep a Ford FE big-block in his '60 Starliner (Custom Rodder, September 2005), he figured he was stuck with the stock brackets. He also assumed he'd have to go hunting for a compressor bracket and multi-belt pulleys to accommodate the air conditioning addition he had planned. So imagine his pleasant surprise when he learned that Concept One builds a polished aluminum pulley and bracket system for, among other things, the FE family (352, 390, 410, 427, and 428) of Ford V-8s.

The FE kit is one of many Concept One pulley systems available from Redd Machining & Manufacturing. Founded as a Corvette specialty shop in the early 1990s, the company began building pulley systems for the racing industry a few years later. Before long, Concept One serpentine-belt pulley systems were being developed for street rods, customs, and street machines. Besides the flash of billet aluminum, the company promotes its systems as being easy to install, and designs them to provide maximum water flow and electrical system charging at idle and slow speeds. Power steering kits employ the company's lightweight aluminum power steering pumps. The Concept One lineup now includes big- and small-block Chevy applications, and small- and big-block (429-460) Ford, as well as the aforementioned FE Ford.

The FE pulley system was actually designed for the GT500E Super Snake replicar built by Unique Performance, so it was not only engineered to be rugged, but also to fit in tight engine compartments with low hood clearances. In other words, the kit should fit just about anywhere an FE will.

Needless to say, the Concept One setup was an easy fit on the 390 in the cavernous engine bay of Kevin's Starliner. Kevin says the installation was a simple and straightforward task, as well. Take a look for yourself and see if you don't agree.

The Concept One kit comes...        read full caption The Concept One kit comes complete with all the necessary chrome-plated hardware and Goodyear serpentine belts.	It's always smart to start...        read full caption It's always smart to start at the bottom-in this case, with the crank pulley.	Installing the water pump...        read full caption Installing the water pump pulley was the next logical step. Both pulleys, as well as most of the brackets, use Allen-head hardware.
The air conditioning compressor...        read full caption The air conditioning compressor fits between the bracket and the block, so it had to be slid into place before its bracket was fully secured to the water pump. The system employs a Sanden compressor mounted low on the passenger side of the block.	Moving to the other side of...        read full caption Moving to the other side of the engine, Kevin bolted the power steering bracket to the block. This bracket also supports the alternator	Next came the power steering...        read full caption Next came the power steering pump and reservoir. Concept One uses its own efficient, lightweight (2.6 lbs) aluminum pumps. The pumps are designed to prevent aeration and provide smooth fluid flow for more responsive steering and cooler fluid temperatures.