spring locator thickness
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 69
Likes: 11
spring locator thickness Getting ready to order a spring setup from BTR. .660 platinums. Have choice of .045 locators or .060 locators.
Stock LS3 heads with stock LS3 valves. No valve job, no valve tip grinding so "should" end up at the OEM 1.800 install height.
Cam is a .621/.604. Puts my math at 1.741 intake and 1.724 using .050 from coil bind.
1.8 minus my numbers is .059 and .076 respectively. That tells me I should order the .060 locators and a set of .015 shims for the exhaust side. Im ok with being .001 heavy on the intake and .001 light on the exhaust. Thats pretty close in my book.
Am I on the right track here? Im ok with ordering extra stuff, but I dont want to spend a ton of money on stuff that will be a waste. Going to get the spring measurement tool to make sure I am setup correctly at the end of the day.
Stock LS3 heads with stock LS3 valves. No valve job, no valve tip grinding so "should" end up at the OEM 1.800 install height.
Cam is a .621/.604. Puts my math at 1.741 intake and 1.724 using .050 from coil bind.
1.8 minus my numbers is .059 and .076 respectively. That tells me I should order the .060 locators and a set of .015 shims for the exhaust side. Im ok with being .001 heavy on the intake and .001 light on the exhaust. Thats pretty close in my book.
Am I on the right track here? Im ok with ordering extra stuff, but I dont want to spend a ton of money on stuff that will be a waste. Going to get the spring measurement tool to make sure I am setup correctly at the end of the day.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 69
Likes: 11
Thanks...
and the .015 shims for the exhaust? Or just leave them a little light? I cant imagine .015 is more than a few lbs light(my math skills arent up to par to calculate the # per .010) and a lot of what I read says +- .015 is acceptable on setup anyway... BUT I would like to have them pretty much balanced which the math on an .015 shim says should get me there(or close enough).
and the .015 shims for the exhaust? Or just leave them a little light? I cant imagine .015 is more than a few lbs light(my math skills arent up to par to calculate the # per .010) and a lot of what I read says +- .015 is acceptable on setup anyway... BUT I would like to have them pretty much balanced which the math on an .015 shim says should get me there(or close enough).
I would just put them in at 1.800" and call it day. This sounds like a street car. I know CB is thrown around a lot but there is no magic 0.050" from bind equals best performance/spring life.
I ran dual springs at 0.150" from bind for ~30K miles, springs are still measuring proper loads....
I ran dual springs at 0.150" from bind for ~30K miles, springs are still measuring proper loads....
TECH Addict
Joined: Dec 2017
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0.050" from bind equals best performance/spring life
I agree, a .060" locator and .015" shim for those that need it, will bring the OP's setup to well within an appropriate tolerance of "perfect". I find it hard to believe though, that all 8 intakes and all 8 exhausts are so identical, that he's worried about 1 .001" somewhere. If so, that's a pretty damn sweet set of heads.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 69
Likes: 11
I would just put them in at 1.800" and call it day. This sounds like a street car. I know CB is thrown around a lot but there is no magic 0.050" from bind equals best performance/spring life.
I ran dual springs at 0.150" from bind for ~30K miles, springs are still measuring proper loads....
I ran dual springs at 0.150" from bind for ~30K miles, springs are still measuring proper loads....
That's one of those things that's only a factor if you're running springs at their absolute outer limits, particularly their upper RPM limit. It limits the distance that the spring can resonate, i.e. go boioioioioinnnnggg, when accelerated very hard. For most of us it's something we never even approach let alone need to worry about.
I agree, a .060" locator and .015" shim for those that need it, will bring the OP's setup to well within an appropriate tolerance of "perfect". I find it hard to believe though, that all 8 intakes and all 8 exhausts are so identical, that he's worried about 1 .001" somewhere. If so, that's a pretty damn sweet set of heads.
I agree, a .060" locator and .015" shim for those that need it, will bring the OP's setup to well within an appropriate tolerance of "perfect". I find it hard to believe though, that all 8 intakes and all 8 exhausts are so identical, that he's worried about 1 .001" somewhere. If so, that's a pretty damn sweet set of heads.
I'm not saying my heads are perfect, ive never measured them. Im just going off of what a factory setup is at 1.800 and they use an 060 locator thickness also. I know at the end of the day I need to measure them all as I set them up. Just trying to not have a bunch of parts laying around that never get used that I order as a "what if" type of situation at the same time as I have to order most things and the time and cost factor is also a thing on that end. I think ill get a set of 015 shims and maybe a set of 030 shims because they are cheap.
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Staging Lane
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