Accurate tech advise needed!

[z71carter]

I'm going together with my fresh 86 350x. We had spare cylinders so we kyat used one to bore for less down time. Got it all together and went to put the cam chain tensioner in and it won't fit in the hole. Obviously the hole is smaller on the 85 cylinder. Now, to finish do I have to bore my 86 cylinder and put it on (which I know will solve this of course) or can I use the 85 rear chain guide? I hope that makes sense.

[Flyingw]

Did you retract the tensioner when you tried to install it?

[Flyingw]

There were different tensioners use for each year. The fat one was used on 85 and the tapered one on 86. This change was mainly driven by the redesign of the crank case vent nipple.

[Outlaw #24]

Answer my e-mail Jim

[z71carter]

Yes it was retracted. We compared the two for length goin in and the 86 tensioner is about 1/4" longer so we figured the guide must be different. That's when we thought about swapping the 86 to 85 guide to go with the 85 tensioner. We are just trying to avoid swapping and boring another cylinder.

[Flyingw]

One sure way of knowing if the guides are different is to compare part numbers. If different part numbers then the guides are different.

[ATC-Eric]

You wont be able to use the 85 tensioner on an 86 engine, the crank case breather gets in the way. The easiest way to fix this issue, is to drill the tensioner hole out bigger.

The guides will work with either tensioner without issue.

If the breather was not in the way it does not matter which tensioner you use, but good luck pulling that vent out!

[z71carter]

Found a good 85 tensioner, swapped the crank case vent tube, threw the tensioner in and that beast is runnin. Did a regrind on the rockers and cam with 1mm over Wossner 10.5 piston. It's strong. Thanks for the help guys.