Chain Collars, how hard to install, how well do they work?? John Walker?

[J.HK]

I'm trying to decide how I want to approach my chain tensioners in an early 911 (72T.)

I have original Tensioners. How well do the collars work in preventing massive engine damage?

How hard are they to install?

They seem quite in-expensive next to the pressure fed tensioners. Do they work?

Walker, what's your thougt on this matter? Have you ever seen the original Tensioners full on fail and destroy an engine?

I understand why I failed tensioner would blow up an engine. I call mechanics and they don't seem super worried, but perhaps they figure if I blow up a motor, they might get to re-build it. And when I call people that sell the update kits they all sware that I'm sleeping with prostitutes in Bangkok without using a condom. Unless of course I upgrade to the pressure fed tensioners....



Thanks,
J

[john walker's workshop]

well, there's still thousands of old tensioners out there that still work fine. an update is a nice insurance policy against bent valves from a tensioner failure. i've seen maybe two tensioner guards that broke in some way, so in my opinion, they're better than nothing at all. if you tighten the bolts evenly and keep the gap between the two halves equal, so they're not side stressed, there's little chance you'll have a problem with them. if there's a tensioner failure, it will only collapse about 1/8", which will make enough noise to warn you, but won't allow enough chain slack to cause any harm.

[J.HK]

If my tensioners were installed in 1983 would you guess they used the collars???

Are the collars difficult to install??

Thanks.

[Leland Pate]

When I removed my chain housing covers to install the pressure fed types... i found one of those safety collars broken in half and dangling by one stud around the right tensioner. It did not make me happy to see that.

God, know how long they had been in there.
I'd just bite the bullet and spend the $400 for the pressure fed tensioners.

[Superman]

I have a set of tensioners I never used. I elected to go with the pressure-fed ones, and I'm glad I did. I have lots to think about besides chain tensioners.