fiddled with timing tensioner ...

I was just reviewing past posts and saw the "rebuilt seizure" posting when I got a sick to my stomach feeling. I have a rebuilt motor intended to go into a late 70's car that I decided to put in my 69 BGT to get me through the winter till my V8 conversion is finished. I realized (Duh) that the motor mounts are different so I switched them out which required swapping the front plates. In the process I dropped the tensioner, guts came out, placed back in, mounted it, sealed it up. Just put the motor back in car and was thinking maybe I should open back up and do a full adjustment/alignment of the tensioner. Whats the general consensus, open up and check or go with it. What could I have messed up in putting back in?

If you are not sure you did it right then pull the crank pulley and the timing cover and check it.

1/ did you put in the oil thrower disc?
2/ Did you fit the rider into the barrel with the spring and turn it with an Allen key to lock it so you could unlock it once it was bolted into place?
3/ did you replace the bolts to torque spec and use the lock tab on the Allen key cover nut?
4/ Did you use the correct gasket behind the tensioner?

I'd check it.

5/ When replacing the timing cover, use the pulley in position before running home the bolts so it is properly centred onto the seal.

Follow Peter's advice. Some tensioners work as per the shop manual and you have to use a hex key to adjust the tension, and then there are others (like mine, made in France, and a damned good one!) and it has no provision for a hex key, it just uses oil pressure to pop it out to the right tension. If you don't know for sure which you have, do as Peter says.

The ones made in France (Renold) are the original equipment and the best. The new ones are made in India by Rolon and are junk.

It bothers me that we're using France and the word "best" in the same sentence, I'll get over it! Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend, crap, just got that tranny lined up too. Maybe I can pull the steering rack forward to remove the crank pulley instead of pulling engine again. Thanks guys for confirming what I already suspected:)

The tensioner that came with my car years ago (back in the 80s) was not nearly as good as as this French Renold one that is in it now. Suffice it to say that whatever brand the first one was, it wore both inside the bore (at its mouth) and on the shank of the foot's piston to a point where it allowed the foot to move upward at an angle (no longer inline in the bore) causing the hard rubber foot to wear excessively along its bottom edge, and then eventually flipped the *&%#@ thing out of the tensioner body!!! I (luckily) found the foot laying on top of the tensioner body and the spring banging around against the chain in the bottom of the timing cover. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I used to have the old parts kicking around the garage simply because most folks couldn't believe that it had done this.

The moral to this story is, ask for and demand the Renold replacement tensioner assembly when you buy a replacement!! If they ain't got 'em, go elsewhere.

I did notice that the tensioner put in during the rebuild has the Hex key, so does Moss or VB sell the better one (oil pressure adjusted), or might anyone have a link to a supplier?

I just did this job last week end. I was chassing a knocking sound. The sound is gone and the only thing IZ found was a timing sproket that was out of alignemtn by 20 thou. I had a 10 thou shim and used it. Put it all together and it is good.

My tensioner had a provision for an allen key on the barrel, but not a hole in the casting to release it. Go figure. I just pried it with a screwderiver once it was bolted in place and it popped out and put tension on the chain. I suspect the thing would release once the engine started running.

I loosened the steering rack, but not sure it was neccessary. All in all, it was not a hard job and the results were very pleasing.

Pete

Pete was that done a CB or RB. Looks like I can't slide the crank pulley off without moving the steering rack. I'm working on a 69GT and the rack is tight against the pully, well not tight but very close. I hate to bust the gasket for nothing but its cheaper than what could go wrong if the tensioner is set wrong.

Mine was a 67 GT with al later timing cover and harmonic balancer. It would have been close, but I think it would have cleared the rack.

You will need to make a puller out of a piece of plat stock and drill and tap a hole in the centre to get the pulley off. No room for a conventional puller.

Pete

I have a 68, and I simply find that it is worth the couple extra minutes of assembly-disassembly time to pull the bolts that hold the steering rack in place to get that little bit of extra clearance to pull the crank pulley. Seems like a lot less monkey motion to me.

WE WILL KNOW SOON ENOUGH!! THANKS