Hydraulic tensioner for my refitted 164??? Sans hydraulics??

[Matthias Kuster <choreboy@domain.elided>]

Ciao Tutti,

Just talked to Benny at Alfa Romance here in L.A. About whether he's
interested in reassembling my basket case 91 164Man. He politely declined,
he says he doesn't want to work on 164s period, says they're a pain in the
@ss. Well I guess that leaves the job to me, for the third time now.

Anyway: I asked him about a solution to the timing belt tensioner dilemma.
He suggested to reinstall the old hydraulic type, and leave the plug in the
case. Basically w/o hydraulics. Hm. He told me that that's what he does to
all the Milanos and GTV6s, he just inserts the sleeve tool, then tightens
the bolt, and then retracts the sleeve tool and lets it back up. "You don't
reconnect the hydraulics?" I asked, he says:"No. It'll keep the tension the
same all the time, whether engine is cold or not, and you don't have to
worry about it rolling backwards in 1st gear."
Brilliant, is what I am thinking, and contemplate buying a used hydraulic
tensioner from someone. Though my previous failures were due to a loose oil
pump drive pulley nut, I still don't trust this mechanical tensioner patch.
Any second opinions from the wisdom here on the list? He also suggested
putting silicone (The Right Stuff) sealant on the cigarette seals when
inserting them. I always thought that silicone was not supposed to get into
contact with engine oil.
Sure like the idea of getting her to run for a bit more than 200 miles this
time.

Cheers
-- 
Matthias Kuster L.A., CA
1991 164L "Alfonso"

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