During the rebuilding of my D14 the rear wheel nuts had suffered abuse from ham fisted attempts to remove them. The outer nuts had rounded corners and the speedometer drive gearbox and brake plate locknuts had been attacked with a hammer and chisel as both had several corners missing. The tensioners were bent and rusty which did little for the remaining thread form.
The decision was made to replace these items with stainless components and try and improve the design of the original mass produced items. The tensioner is now made in two pieces. The part with the spindle hole is much thicker and supports the spindle in a close fitting hole the width of the swinging arm rather than just bear on the top of the slot. This allows the threaded adjuster to be placed centrally about the swinging arm wheel slot and a straight pull on the threaded part of the tensioner avoiding the original design "dog leg" feature. The end caps are machined out of alloy and are more substantial than the original mild steel stamping. The original BSA components were mass-produced for the minimum cost possible and have lasted much longer than the manufacturers ever envisaged, which is a credit to the company and the people who made them.
I feel sure the purists who seek 100% originality will continue to search the damp cardboard boxes and tins half filled with rusty coloured water at auto jumbles in the vain hope of finding nice original items. I wish you all the best of luck. 1 am too old now and wish to spend my twilight years enjoying my restorations by riding them when ever possible.

^{RCR VILLIERS DIVISION JULY 2005}
Peter Savage 01827-874015
E-mail p.savage56@btinternet.com