1981 240D

So, I know this is a perennial problem, but I have a mangled alternator bracket. The previous owner seems to have lost the spacer, which resulted in a bent bracket and a mangled adjuster thread. I bought a new spacer, but there was no way I could bend the bracket so that the spacer would fit and when I finally measured every thing, it turns out that the alternator+spacer = .010" longer than the bracket appears to have ever been. Anyway, I ground it down a touch so that it would fit, but there is just no way around the fact that the $80 adjuster bolt is mangled beyond use, so I just put it back together without the nut installed so that I can adjust it like, well like every functional alternator bracket I have encountered on every other car I've ever owned. I honestly don't know why Mercedes had to inflict such a marginal piece of engineering on us, when most of the rest of the car is so well thought out, but I just can't stomach the idea of spending $250 on a new bracket that will be every bit as marginal as the one I already have. So my question is, what are my other options for an alternator bracket? I know that there is the star design, but I don't know what the level of compatibility is with my block/alternator/etc. How many parts do I have to replace? Also, I've heard that people don't like the star design either. Has anyone made their own bracket? I'm tempted to think that if I can put a large enough hole in the right place on the existing bracket, I could get a pry bar in the right space to put the correct amount of tension on the belt without needing the adjuster.