Well, a race engine needs it less than a street car, due to milage and maintenance intervals. My point was, I think it was more the cam swap from #1 to #2, that perhaps the bearings were fit to #1, and just werent for #2. Think of brake pads, when a caliper is a little loose in the mount. The pad wears a little edge onto it. Now, change the rotor. The new rotor may hit and break off the lip, causing strange wear. Except on cam bearings, the particles get moved around and can get overheated and come apart. I caused this same episode years ago on a 383 I was swapping a new cam into. I found metal in the oil, and pulled it. The glitter was what was left from my cam bearings outer layer. That exact tensioner came in 3.9L V 6s and various V8s for years from the factory. That's the exact same part, just with an MP number on it, and it only takes up the slack in the "non-tensioned" side of the chain, so the timing doesnt wander around as the engine's original timing chain wears. That being said, like before, I've only used two, over a total of about 9 small block builds in the past couple years.
