can anybody loan or let me "rent" a timing belt tensioner tool for a cam install???

I ordered one a while back but it hasnt come in and I need to do my cams & cam gear install this weekend since I have a custom tune next weekend and wont get another chance to do it

or give me an alternative to the tool so I can still do the install

please

 

We made one from threaded rod and a couple of nuts. (that fit the threaded rod) Just don't use low-grade stuff if at all possible, as it can break. (so I'm told)

I don't recall the exact size/pitch, but look around or someone may chime in.

 

does anyone know the size/pitch of the threads on the timing belt tensioner tool???

 

Hi Fayetteville,

8mm x 1.25mm threaded rod with 2-3 corresponding nuts( I believe they were 12mm..13mm?))....a couple 12" lengths to have a spare around should do it.....a bit shorter if you have an aftermarket tubular exhaust manifold.

I bought my rod from a "Nut and Bolt" supply house so it's hardness was a bit better than the Loew's/Hardware store stock (who usually don't have the metric stuff anyway, at least in threaded rods). Fayetteville should have such an outlet. I heated my pieces up with a propane torch and let cool slowly (not quenching) which adds more hardness without the brittleness of quenching).

Cleaned the nuts and rod end with brake cleaner and applied superglue to area before lock tightening them together...tried to get the nut flats lined up so a socket would slip over both. I later used a MIG to tack the nuts together.

Liberal smear of antiseize paste to the threads and a copious spray of brake cleaner down the tensioner thread hole (that rubber plug seals the outer access hole but there is ample room for crud to enter the adjuster hole deeper in). Mine was full of sand/grit which initially made threading the adjuster more difficult.

As you know, mark everything with white paint...cam teeth, belt to cams, crank sprocket if accessed, crank pulley to timing cover. Ziplock the cam gears to the TB at like 3 places each and get a bungee cord (thinnish ) to hold the TB/cam gears taut, hooking one side of the bungee to the hood holder hole. Transfer your marks from the old gears to the new gears one at a time and reziplock. I know the dowel pins and gear notches should be enough but this gave me an added sense I was doing it right. On another job, my TB somehow slipped a few teeth on the crank even though I thought I had maintained tension and, with my more radical cams, I slightly bent all 8 intake valves even though the car ran, albeit crappy idle.

With the engine set at TDC #1 for the cam change, that OEM exh. cam will rotate pretty good when the TB is removed...it takes another set of hands to rotate the cam and pin marker back to spec. to get the gear/TB back on correctly. I had a mechanic from GM's ACLS Vette series tell me that the old trick of putting a length of rope in the #1 cylinder before hitting TDC which hold the valves/cams dead on when the TB tension is removed but I have no idea the quantity, type of rope.

Cheers,