Series II lower timing chain position

[TexasJagMan]

On a '69 series II, how close to the lower guide should the lower timing chain be positioned? At this time, there is about a 2-3 mm. gap between the chain and the guide face. There seems to be little slack in the chain and it is tight against the face of the hydraulic adjuster and the upper guide face.
It has fewer than 40K miles on it and has been sitting in my garage over 30 years. To my knowledge, this is the first time the timing cover has been removed (acquired the car in 1971).
I am going through all components in an attempt to get it running again.
Iam sure that I will have more questions.
Thanks,
Spike

[abowie]

Further to my reply on Jag Lovers, Bill was correct in that the manual does say the guide should touch the chain. If you read the bit in the manual below though, this is with some slack potentially in the chain as the tensioner isn't fully deployed.

The guys who taught me to build XK engines always put in a small amount of clearance on the chain while it was tight, with the tensioner working.

I suspect as long as the chain isn't dragging hard up against the guide you're unlikely to get excessive wear on the guide.

If you have the timing cover off it'd be pretty easy to either move your guide in a bit if you wanted to, or replace it with a new one.

[TexasJagMan]

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for taking the time to reply...twice.
Does the lower guide (C) have oval holes to facilitate adjustment? It's quite obvious that the upper guide(A)
has the oval top hole for adjustment.
And, from what manual did you get the illustration?
Spike

[abowie]

That is from the Jaguar Service manual.

IIRC the holes in the guides are slotted to allow you to move it.