New to me 83SC - Seeking Chain Tensioner Install Guide & Questions (With research!)

[cky3396]

Hello PP inmates,

I'm the proud new owner of a 83 911SC with 64k miles, and after an anxious but fun 370 Mile drive home (!!!) I am ready to really lean into my mid life crisis... which includes preserving and doing right by this 911 as a bit of a shadetree mechanic. On with it..

I've done my share of searching PP forum threads and googling and youtubing and... I'm just hoping to get some up-to-date guidance. Im not interested in starting a religious argument but we'll see how that goes. I understand there are a lot of examples of 911SCs with much higher mileage that have not had tensioner issues, and theres a couple different paths to take. One of my favorite research finds from this very forum goes like this...

If you install Carrera tensioners you will regret it; If you do not install Carrera tensioners you will regret this also; If you install or do not install Carrera tensioners you will regret this. If you install 930 tensioners with collars you will regret it; If you do not install 930 tensioners with collars you will regret it...

As far as I know, 83 MY has the wide idler arms - so thats a key point out of the way.

What's the consensus in 2024, replace chain tensioners with collars or go with oil fed?

In a somewhat aging thread, someone mentioned less examples of 930 tensioner failures compared to carerra.. is this still true? was it ever really true?

I may have missed some other notable items to consider... the randomness that pops up while researching all this can make a newbies head spin..

I just want to be able to do this in my garage on a weekend and ultimately worry more about other drivers on the road when I go out for a cruise as opposed to some catastrophic failure at ~65k miles

tia

[Flat6pac]

Down to money. $50 v $600. Both are known to fail, the guards properly installed are mechanical. The oil fed are pressure oriented, subject to bleeding off.
Nothing mechanical is foolproof
Bruce