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Wrong size valve retainers/locks?

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Old Jul 15, 2012 | 11:08 PM
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Default Wrong size valve retainers/locks?

I have a strange problem (that i ran into at the end of a very long day, so i might be crazy), and i will investigate further tomorrow. I have 806 casting heads, ported with 2.02/1.60 valves. Bought Lunati 0.650 lift valve spring kit from Colorado Speed. I start putting the springs on, seats and seals drop right in, compress the spring, put the retainer on, and the locks don't fit. I put the retainer and locks on the bench as assembled, and it doesn't seem like the valve will fit! I also tried taking the valve out, putting the locks on the valve then sliding the retainer up, and it was just not big enough.

Now, like i said, this was at about 11pm after a long day, so i was already frustrated, and i might have done something dumb like flip the retainers and seats. But i swear i took them out of the bags in the right order! Just wanted to know if anyone else ran into the same problem orrrr if i'm just dumb. Did search, but for such a specific problem, didn't find anything
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Old Jul 16, 2012 | 06:16 PM
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1.60 exhaust valves don't work on stock seats. I assume you paid the extra money to have them replaced with larger ones.
On the retainer issue it sounds like they are just wrong. Are the locks radius groove like the valves should be? Or did someone put a square groove valve in the head? Pics would solve this.
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Old Jul 16, 2012 | 06:33 PM
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Not using stock seats, but i suppose stock size. Bought the kit that Colorado Speed had up for sale in our classifieds, don't know the Lunati PN. Edit: I believe the PN is 73925K1LUN. http://www.lunatipower.com/News.aspx?id=28 But even still, why would the seals/seats fit and the retainer/locks not?

Locks are radius, and i do believe the groove is square. Work took up more time than i thought today, wasn't able to check anything out

If it helps, the springs i had on the head before are K-Motion K750. http://www.jegs.com/i/K+Motion/571/K-750/10002/-1

I'm looking into the K-Motion springs at the moment to see what, if anything, i can dig up while i'm working. Edit: So far, two different IDs on retainers, 0.650, 0.735. Also these are what the K-Motion locks look like http://www.summitracing.com/parts/KMO-K-6110/?rtype=10

Last edited by Nebulus; Jul 16, 2012 at 06:58 PM.
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Old Jul 17, 2012 | 08:42 AM
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The locks you have are squared groove. Please measure the valve tip size (both intake and exhaust) and post pictures of the groove on the valve. Sounds like you will be junking everythng you have and starting fresh, minus the valves.
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Old Jul 17, 2012 | 08:58 AM
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Lunati was boxing these wrong for a while. I got a set, can't remember the vendor. They had me return them and they sent me a new sealed kit. It was boxed correctly. So Lunati knows about the problem.
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Old Jul 18, 2012 | 03:32 PM
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Here's the pic. For clarity's sake, big locks are K-Motion, small are Lunati. Also i figured i'd have to contact Lunati about it, but i wanted to find out if anyone else had the same issue and had PN's readily available, or knew if Lunati would correct it.

Edit: Called Lunati, spoke with David. He had not heard of this issue. Measured the valves, they are 11/32. So i just went ahead and ordered the right locks and retainers (PN's are 77048-16 and 75794-16 respectively), which ran me ~$80.

Also, since i had not made mention of it, i had no history on these heads. I bought an LS1 from a local, he gave me two sets of heads, said one was ported 5.7, other were ported 5.3 (339K casting, was told D'Agostino Racing heads). That's all i knew, so this has been quite a pain in the ***!
Attached Thumbnails Wrong size valve retainers/locks?-imag0125.jpg  

Last edited by Nebulus; Jul 18, 2012 at 04:52 PM.
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Old Jul 19, 2012 | 05:22 PM
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Yep. Shops that have no clue what they are doing and are quite simply just hacks, put 11/32" stem valves in LS heads because they are stupid. Period.
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Old Jul 19, 2012 | 05:44 PM
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Well that's fantastic lol. Even the Lunati rep told me that (before i measured the valves) if they are 11/32 they are just standard SBC valves. So yeah, idiots!
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