It does. Put your degree wheel on and zero it. Then move the crank a bit both ways and read how many degrees the crank will rotate before the cam starts to move.
With slack in the chain like that the cam runs retarded from where you degreed it in at.
I’d buy a tensioner and use it. All chains and gears like that wear very quickly. Look at a motorcycle chain. It will gain length every time it’s new for the first few rides. Same thing here. The chain and gear set up was a “cost effective” way to hook the cam and crank together. But it’s not very accurate.
BTW, I always drill a .040ish hole in the passenger side of the camplate where it covers the oil gallery. I don’t use those dumb soft plugs in there either.
That way you aren’t relying on drip oiling to lube the timing set. You get pressurized oil hitting the gear and if the cam gear has holes in it, the back side of the timing cover. That’s getting oil all over and not relying on the crank slinger (which I don’t use either).
