verslagen1 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05:


something is wrong with the math, 128.9mm (max)- 127.4mm allows 1.5mm service length remaining.

based on the changes in oil theory:

independent scientific oil report

Keep that "threaded thing pulling" thought and extended it out through an oil-tight fitting right out through the front side of the case (yeah, you'd have to drill and tap a hole).

An external manually adjusted "pull" that doesn't back up but is controlled by your fingers to the appropriate tension level (hot or cold, your pick).

Downside is you'd have to fiddle with it every few weeks to keep perfect tune, bi-monthly if you just wanted to make sure no noise developed.

Upside, no spring thingy to come apart and dump pieces in your gears.  Also unlimited forward adjustment until your chain literally rubbed inself on the other side of the gap.

Ponder on that thought a bit.

Oldfeller

There are already several threads with a lot of duplication of effort on this topic so since this was related I moved it here to keep the info together as much as possible.

borne2fly wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05:

I don't know if a manually adjustable tensioner would extend the life of the chain, but I do know that having loose pieces of automatic tensioner falling into your gears will shorten the life of the engine

Borne2fly,

My extended life comment was that you would be able to continue making adjustments un-abated until the chain hit itself.  The German Savage group figured out a way to do this trick and our own group figured out another way to do this same trick that cost a good bit less money.  

But both methods still mean you take off the side cover multiple times over the total possible adjustment life of the chain itself (30,000-50,000 miles).

Since I have 10,000 more miles to go before participating in this tensioner fire-drill, I am considering a one-shot alteration method that would either be externally adjusted (the pull screw system) or maybe a really long travel spring unit that would be replaced just once and would be good to go from then on until the chain hit itself.

The standard Savage cam chain tensioner unit is a joke as far as total adjustmement travel goes.  A replacement tensioning system simply has to be able to do significantly better for travel as taking the cover off multiple times is "undesireable" to me if all you are going to be doing it for is to service the short stroke of the cam chain tensioner.

I want to go in there just once at 15,000 miles and replace the sucker with something much longer lasting (along with washer shimming my clutch springs to make the clutch a more robust arrangement and perhaps replacing the friction plates with some better plates if some exist at that point in time).

I certainly don't want to do it more than once.

Oldfeller

Oldfeller,

I like the idea of a tensioner with a longer travel but it seems like a pain to build. Does anyone make one that could be modified to fit?

If I went with a manually adjusted tensioner, I would tend to adjust it a little on the loose side so the chain wouldn't get too tight when the engine warmed up. If it ran a little loose like that all the time, what would be the harm except a very slight lead/lag in the valve train? I understand that for optimal performance I would want to get in and adjust it quite often, but if I didn't care about optimal performance I might be able to let it go between adjustments for thousands of miles. Another post somewhere suggested that the existing tensioner tightened everything up even when the engine is cold, which I imagine would result in an overtightened chain when the engine warmed up, resulting in accelerated chain stretch. Running it somewhat looser might extend the life of the thing, what do you think?