Billet Tensioner

Received mine Friday....looks Awesome! Will be going on my new motor before it goes in sometime in the next few weeks. Steve thanks again for putting this together!

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Just got home from out of town and was happy to see a package! (y)


FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

This thing is massive, Looks well built, definitely feels well-built. I never was a fan of the pulley design and being able to use my existing pulleys was a key selling point. So i ended up taking off the pulley and glad i did… that thing is massive as well. I am sure i lost a lot of rotating weight by replacing the pulley…. and that has to be good. (Now for those who have stock pulleys the weight difference might not be there and the version shipped might be lighter than stock - i am not sure.)

NOW UNDERSTAND THIS:

Being this is an aftermarket part - It DEFINITELY is NOT a one size fits all [but should fit most]…… but being a true hot rodder you expect minor changes to get things to work….

I have BIG tubing [ 3" Up-Pipe & 4" Turbo Intake Pipe] and this unit is dimensionally bigger than the stock version. I had to clearance the edge where the long bolt with stud passes through. I used a file to radius this edge back towards the engine enough so that my 4" inlet pipe would not make contact with the sharp edge of the tensioner.

Another difference from stock is the bolt hole where the pulley bolt goes through is not open on the back side…. for most this doesn't matter. For those who have expensive stainless hardware that was stock length… you will have to replace it with shorter hardware or use the existing Black Oxide bolt shipped….

I did notice that my intermittent start up belt squeal is gone and that makes me extremely happy… ALL in ALL this seems to be a winner. I drive a lot so i will keep you posted on issues if they arise.

THANKS AGAIN STEVE!!! [2 for 2 - tensioner and gauge cluster]

-aaron
 
Excuse the dirty engine - but here are some side by side photos….. and install shots

Tensioner Install.jpg
 
Got mine in yesterday and like everyone says... Its definitely well engineered and I have no doubt that it will outlast the car! Thanks Again Steve!!
 
OK, here is my take on the tensioner. Had some extra time today so decided to install it. My initial concerns on the clearance between the pulley and tensioner was confirmed once I switched the pulley with the RJC unit I was previously running. Did not want a mismatched pulley. As previously mentioned the pulley bolt hole does not go all the way thru so I had to use the black oxide bolt included instead of the stock one I had chromed. Not the end of the world but would have been easy to just drill all the way thru when making this. HIGHLY suggest offering without the pulley. Weighs .8 lbs vs .2 lbs of the RJC pulley.

Biggest gripe is the RJC pulley when swapped was tight up against the arm of the tensioner, NO WAY was this going to work. Ended up throwing the pulley on the belt sander to clearance the back of it. Took off material until I had clearance. Have brought the car up to temperature and all seems OK. Really don't think the arm needs to be as thick as it is OR they should mill out a groove where the pulley outer flange is.

As supplied it will work fine and is very well made, complications arise at least in my case when trying to use other aftermarket pulleys. Not sure how a stock pulley will work out as I haven't had one in years. Going to be converting all of my pulleys over to the ones we sell in the near future.

I did not have any clearance problems with the 4" air intake pipe on my GN.

Weight of stock tensioner with RJC pulley is 3.4 lbs
Weight of billet tensioner with supplied pulley is 5.2 lbs


tensioner4.jpg
tensioner1.jpg
tensioner2.jpg
tensioner3.jpg

tensioner5.JPG
 
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You could always remove enough threads from the chromed bolt. ..

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk
 
TR Custom Parts said:
OK, here is my take on the tensioner. Had some extra time today so decided to install it. My initial concerns on the clearance between the pulley and tensioner was confirmed once I switched the pulley with the RJC unit I was previously running. Did not want a mismatched pulley. As previously mentioned the pulley bolt hole does not go all the way thru so I had to use the black oxide bolt included instead of the stock one I had chromed. Not the end of the world but would have been easy to just drill all the way thru when making this. HIGHLY suggest offering without the pulley. Weighs .8 lbs vs .2 lbs of the RJC pulley.

Biggest gripe is the RJC pulley when swapped was tight up against the arm of the tensioner, NO WAY was this going to work. Ended up throwing the pulley on the belt sander to clearance the back of it. Took off material until I had clearance. Have brought the car up to temperature and all seems OK. Really don't think the arm needs to be as thick as it is OR they should mill out a groove where the pulley outer flange is.

As supplied it will work fine and is very well made, complications arise at least in my case when trying to use other aftermarket pulleys. Not sure how a stock pulley will work out as I haven't had one in years. Going to be converting all of my pulleys over to the ones we sell in the near future.

I did not have any clearance problems with the 4" air intake pipe on my GN.

Weight of stock tensioner with RJC pulley is 3.4 lbs
Weight of billet tensioner with supplied pulley is 5.2 lbs


View attachment 229973 View attachment 229974 View attachment 229975 View attachment 229976
View attachment 229977
Click to expand...
I can't tell that you installed the billet tensioner at all ;):p

But wow does your engine compartment look clean!!!!! (y)
 
I installed mine tonight also and cant even tell either. I thought it would stand out more. And not being able to use my RJC pulley right out the box sucks.......

It is still a well engineered piece in spite of those issues.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
Let's beg for a new product, then tear it apart once we get it.

That's the ticket!

I'll admit I drove my car from one garage to another after the install and haven't yet road or track tested it, but these cars are 25 years old.

If you aren't willing to do a little "massaging" after a guy spends the better part of a year making a new, pretty fucking cool part for these cars, perhaps you should just avoid buying them until the rest of the critics are through tearing it apart and your bitches are somehow corrected.



WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Jeeze.
 
Last edited:
Got your panties in a bunch? How do you figure I am tearing this product down? Just posting what I ran into while trying to install a different pulley to help those who will be running into the same issue when they try to install a RJC or different aftermarket pulley. Isn't that what the board is for? No way am I knocking this as it is a nicely made part as I previously stated! Just a couple suggestions for tweaks on the next run if there is one. Thanks again Steve for making this happen.
 
Steve, Is it possible to make another run of these belt tensioner?

Like always in life, as It seems only the richer gets rich and get what they want, and the average blue collar who didn't have the money then and now has the money don't benefit it from what they need.
 
TR Custom Parts said:
Got your panties in a bunch? How do you figure I am tearing this product down? Just posting what I ran into while trying to install a different pulley to help those who will be running into the same issue when they try to install a RJC or different aftermarket pulley. Isn't that what the board is for? No way am I knocking this as it is a nicely made part as I previously stated! Just a couple suggestions for tweaks on the next run if there is one. Thanks again Steve for making this happen.
Click to expand...

Mark,

Have you tried the billet tensioner pulley you sell yet? I'm getting ready to buy a set of billet pulleys and was wondering if you had the same clearance issue as with the RJC?

-Scott
 
GNONYX said:
Steve, Is it possible to make another run of these belt tensioner?

Like always in life, as It seems only the richer gets rich and get what they want, and the average blue collar who didn't have the money then and now has the money don't benefit it from what they need.
Click to expand...

Odd statement, I am sure most of not all here are blue collar...


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