Ti retainers and BeeHive Springs...

Roy Heisenberg

Roy Heisenberg

The 472 Crank is stronger due to overlap
Joined
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Location
Folsom, California
What vehicle(s) do you drive?
472 Caddy in a ‘75 Jeep J-20 TH-400 Dana-60 100LL
Howdy, Men:

My 472 needs new springs, and I hear the BeeHive springs for the LS platform do a great job of controlling first and second order harmonics in the springs. Can we use Titanium valve spring retainers on these BeeHive springs, and save mass?

Thanks,
Roy
 
E28B4C4B-6C2A-4B67-A6F6-CDFD1893CEA4.webp Also, along with some new beehive springs, would the VT-61 rocker shafts be a good choice for my 472 build with a 292 duration cam?

Thanks again,
Roy
 
Roy Heisenberg said:
Howdy, Men:

My 472 needs new springs, and I hear the BeeHive springs for the LS platform do a great job of controlling first and second order harmonics in the springs. Can we use Titanium valve spring retainers on these BeeHive springs, and save mass?

Thanks,
Roy
Click to expand...

Sure. It won't hurt anything. But with heavy stainless steel valves and steel pushrods, are you going to gain anything?
 
Would the intake valves be the place to start with Titanium? I know Si Valves can make a Titanium copy of any valve if you send them one sample....

Here is my angle... Cam bearings seem to be a weak link... Titanium intakes, Titanium retainers, BeeHive springs, and absolute minimum spring pressure seem to be the best insurance for my new roller cam and back grooved cam bearings.

Just looking to be easy on cam bearings, and never destroy another Caddy Block...

Regards,
Roy Heisenberg
 
I hope someone with different experience with Ti valves will chime in. The one & only Ti valve engine I ever helped build (377 sbc for dirt track) would rev quick & high but eventually grenaded when 2 of the valves snapped off at the stem where the stem turns into the head of the valve. But this was back in 93 and I was just a young high school auto shop student so who knows what I could have done wrong. It only saw 7,800 rpm for a brief time.

Lowering valvetrain mass will make the cam bearings last longer. But what lift cam will you be running? Solid or hydraulic? Flat tappet or roller? That all comes into play as well.
 
Roy,
To answer your original question, Yes. I ran comp BB bee hive springs and Ti retainers on a set of mildly ported small chamber heads. I was running a Cad Co SS300 cam at the time so the motor never saw anything "North" of about 5500 RPM.
Greg Surfas
 
Greg,

This is good to know. I just want to keep the weight off where I can so my roller cam and cam bearings will live a long life.

Thanks,
Roy
 
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