Well did a switch out of lifters yesterday... BTW when you buy a cam & lifter set from most any brand name company you get their good quality std. lifters not the anti-pumpup ones... But anyhow ran it in no problems but this morning after warming it up I pulled a valve cover on the ole 427 and was setting them to the 0 lash as spec`d and noticed the #3 intake spring was kinda out of the pocket in the head (781`s) and after looking a little closer its broke...? Also looked more and found another on the exhaust on #3...? These are Comp single springs that were setup for .600 lift (about what I`m running on lift) Any reason why they are breaking down at the bottom...? little insight please...

Also have a set of Comp springs part number 987 (double springs) that are the same installed height and since the cam & lifters are re-broke in can I simply swap springs...? Also using 10* Chrome moly locks with titainium retainers... Summits site says these springs are good for hyd flat tappets, solid`s and hyd. rollers... Need info on these too...

thanks...

Springs are like alot of other parts in the performance industry. They are made by just a few people and then boxed with different names on them. I would guess those springs are pioneers. I have hda brand new springs that were set-up correct break after a few miles, then replaced just the broken one and the engine lived for years...... I would not get real concerned if you check a few things and everything is ok,,,,

Are they stacking????

Are the retainers hitting the guides???

Are you,,, or have you over rev it????

Do the retainers snap into the springs or are they sloppy???

Any signs of detonation in the engine???

One thing about springs you cannot get them out of the box and install them. most times they need set up for the proper spec's to work correct. The last 5 or 6 sets of springs i bought were no where close to the listed installed and over the nose pressures....... They were all on the low side....


keith

__________________
K-Star Automotive
Performance Engines
The crash was easy: rehab is killing me-"John Force"

Keith...

The only one of those questions you asked applies I think...? It has floated the lifters actualy not the valves as most people say... I had a problem also with the cheap *** Cat guide plates that I finaly figured out were causing a ticking problem in the engine (have since installed a good set of Manley HD`s)... I even called my machinest buddy that did the work to the heads and he has all the info on the setup at his shop... I also asked about the other springs I have and he basicly said the same thing as you... Also I checked the passenger side bank and found no problems on that side...? We may just have a couple of bad springs...? (with a little luck...?)

Yea it's probably just a spring issue. They only red flag fo me is that there was 2 bad ones????

When i was talking about valve float what i was refering to is the spring not being strong enough to control the valve and it turns into a big rubber ball and bounces around between the retainer and the head.... Sometimes this will cause the spring to break. from the harmonics...


Not sure what lifter float is unless you are talking about the lifters pumping up???

Keith

__________________
K-Star Automotive
Performance Engines
The crash was easy: rehab is killing me-"John Force"

What causes a lifter to float? never heard that term. usually when a valve floats ,in a hyd version, the lifter is adjusted with lots of pre load, when the oil press ,and rpm gets hi, the lifter pumps up unseating the valve. adj the valves til you can just turn the push rod between the fingers. then you will have the poor mans anti pump up lifter.

Almost, Your referring to lifter's pumping up. Lifter's pump up with oil because they are designed to fill quickly but not bleed down quickly.

Valve float is more like when the weight of the valve and retainer and lifter with push rod can't follow the ramp of the lobe. It jumps the nose or ramp because of the inertia of moving part's. This makes the part's come back together in a hard, non-forgiving, shock loading kind of way that will damage stuff.

As far as springs, I will agree that there are only a few spring makers selling to mass part's houses, but Someone like Comp Cams will check the quality before shipping it out where the someone like "Speedy Cams" saves money on the same thing by not even looking at the package before sending it to a customer. So if you have the means of checking these your self you can get way with cheaper part's as long as you have the time to send it back and wait for the part's you need to work. Otherwise, cheap part's end up costing you an engine rather than just a higher initial price of quality control. I'm poor, I can't afford to lose an engine to save a dollar.

Using your double spring at low RPM with little oil for cooling will shorten the life of the spring. The self canceling harmonics or more correctly, frequencies, will cause heat and eventually, failure. resulting in dropped valves and broken pistons, bent rods, yada yada yada.