View Single Post
  #19 (permalink)  
Old 09-29-2010, 02:58 AM
blykins blykins is offline
CC Member
Visit my Photo Gallery

 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Louisville, KY
Cobra Make, Engine: I'm Cobra-less!
Posts: 9,417
Send a message via AIM to blykins
Not Ranked     
Default

I can understand where you're coming from now.

The first comment I would make would be NEVER trust Comp Cams' tech line on ANYTHING. EVER. NEVER. First of all the springs on the Vic Jr heads are for hydraulic roller cams or flat tappet cams. They would have been just fine for each one of those. Secondly, the guy that gets paid $9 an hour to read out of a catalog doesn't understand that Vic Jr heads have larger, heavier valves than a lot of SBF heads. Comp tends to put a lot of "universal" information in their catalogs and while a spring may be good at a particular install height for a particular engine, it may be way off on another setup.

As I've said earlier, just because you don't get the tell-tale pop-pop-pop of valve float doesn't mean that you're not losing control of the valvetrain, especially if you're spinning this thing to 8000. I find it extremely hard to believe that a 145lb seat pressure can keep a huge solid roller lifter down on the lobe at 8000 rpm.

It's true that the Magnum lobes are not very wild. However what's not wild at 5000 becomes pretty funky at 8000 rpm. (It also means that you can step up to a Xtreme Energy street roller grind and pick up quite a bit of horsepower.)

Let me ask this question rhetorically: if Comp told you to go with the weaker of the two sets of springs in the catalog and you're turning 8000 rpm, why would they put the stronger set in the catalog as well?

As for titanium valves, they are found in a lot of OEM street applications here. Some of the Corvette LS engines have them.

They are $$$$$ and most definitely help on valvetrain control. However, I wouldn't consider it a return on investment unless you are in fact turning 8000-9000 rpms on a regular basis. Even then, there are probably some other options that you could try before hand. Those titanium valves are just horribly expensive compared to a stainless steel set.
__________________
Lykins Motorsports, LLC
Custom SBF/Cleveland/FE/385 Series Engines
Street, Road Race, Drag Race, Pulling Truck
www.lykinsmotorsports.com
www.customfordcams.com
brent@lykinsmotorsports.com

Last edited by blykins; 09-29-2010 at 04:17 AM..
Reply With Quote