With the Hydraulic lifters today always being a problem pumping up when cold. I would leave the oil galley closed. If you want more oil just leave the top left bolt out instead of using the drilled bolt. I have cam bolts and plates if you need them.
A solid flat tappet cam or solid roller cam you can get away with drilling the thrust plate. Our Shop builds a lot of SBM. If you have that much slack in a chain the chain is junk. The pull side of the chain always stays tight as the crank turns the cam. The slack side gets tight when the crank stops pulling. That tensioner does nothing to prevent the pull side from getting loose when the crank stops pulling. It over comes the spring.
Did any of you ever hear the chain slap on a 6 cylinder with the junk chain. That is why they came up with the tensioner. They are a bandaid for a junk chains and cam tunnel to close for the cheap chains they bought millions of.
Think how the cam timing moves back and forth when the chain is that loose tensioner or not.
I ran my solid roller motor 8 years no tensioner and with no upper bolt. 8000 rpm shifts and over rev'd up to 9300 rpms at times. I am using the chain over in my street 416. The chain is a billet cloyes true roller. Having heavy spring pressure and angled push rods I keep as much oil to the side of the lifters and rockers . So the galley stays as sealed as possible
I have been doing it this way for years. Two bolts and a dripper
Good chain
No tensioner
Gravity fed lubed from bolt or no bolt / pressurized oil is a choice with solid lifters
Dripper and oil slinger on the crank
I would never use a tensioner unless it was a 6 with the line bore to close to the cam tunnel with a junk chain as they were built .
If you need the plate and bolts I have them for $10 and shipping cost
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