It's easier without a/c. And don't lose the "special nut" unless you own a super deep 10mm socket.

IIRC, I once got so pissed at that system that I reversed the bolt (replaced the "special bolt" with a hdw bolt) and put the nut on the front (a regular nut). Had to trim the bolt length to nut depth as installed. Oh, yeah, and there used to be about a 4 page section in the 85truckfsm about shimming the alternator mounting flange, which made no sense as there was that semi-slidey split bushing deslacker thing....

Not responsible for advice not taken...