1991 Dakota 318 TBI Belt Tensioner made of Unobtainium
That’s what I was hoping to do, but in a word the answer is no.
I thought I had 2 issues standing in the way of doing just that, but in the end there are 4.
1. The later style mounts with a stud, the early one with a long bolt. There is no way to use the stud, the early bracket is bolted to the head, threaded and has no access for putting a nut on from the back. My plan had been to bore the stud out from the front so the tensioner still had whatever it is holding it together, but allow for the bolt to be used.
2. Location pin is in the wrong place. I planned to either remove the one on the later tensioner and ignore it, or drill and tap the housing to add a new one.
3. The later style is shorter in length than the early one. This might not be a big deal, or it might put the pulley into the air pump.
4. The later style is significantly shorter in offset than the early style. With some careful measurements, maybe a spacer could be made to work. Or not.
That’s what I was hoping to do, but in a word the answer is no.
I thought I had 2 issues standing in the way of doing just that, but in the end there are 4.
1. The later style mounts with a stud, the early one with a long bolt. There is no way to use the stud, the early bracket is bolted to the head, threaded and has no access for putting a nut on from the back. My plan had been to bore the stud out from the front so the tensioner still had whatever it is holding it together, but allow for the bolt to be used.
2. Location pin is in the wrong place. I planned to either remove the one on the later tensioner and ignore it, or drill and tap the housing to add a new one.
3. The later style is shorter in length than the early one. This might not be a big deal, or it might put the pulley into the air pump.
4. The later style is significantly shorter in offset than the early style. With some careful measurements, maybe a spacer could be made to work. Or not.
