Hey everyone. So I'm building a 95 lt1 and I'm reusing the factory heads with a trickflow cam .530/.530 with 113 lsa and 1.7 rockers. After doing that calculations I found that my loft would be .601, my question is what is a good set if valve springs to use? And I'd prefer to have beehive springs. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

 

I am using a .510/.510 cam. LS7 lifters. I have the single beehive springs and I have broken 2 within a month. From my recent experience I
would definitely use atleast a double
spring. Im saving the funds now so I
can get the new springs. Hope this helps.

 

Lot of things wrong here.
First if you actually look up the cam it is .530 with 1.6 rockers not 1.5 which is a very good thing if you are set on doing as you propose and using 1.7s. blindly throwing ratio at a lobe is a great way to build an out of control valvetrain.

When you say "reusing factory heads" are they as cast or ported?

Are you really set on this cam and 1.7 ratio?

Far as specing a spring, for a truly thoughtful recommendation you are going to have to find out more about the lobes, there is more to it than just lift.

 

.510/.510 whats your lsa on your cam, and whatdouble spring valves are you going with? the cam i have picked out and yes i am set on using is a trickflow cam. this cam is apart of a top end kit however, after much research and endless starring at flow bench print outs i decided to go with almost everything in this kit aside from the heads because the factory heads flow better when ported and polished then the trickflow heads for way less money. the specs for the cam alone call for 1.5:1 ratio not 1.6:1 as was suggested. that being said my homework on my valve train was done. i was just asking about valve springs that can handle that much lift. thanks again for the help and suggestions.

 

^This post is confusing.

I hope you decided against the 1.7:1 rockers, those ramp rates are fairly aggressive at 46 INT and 45 EXT.

Looks like Trickflow went with dual valve springs with 150# on the seat @1.800" and 450# open @1.200". Using 1.6:1 RR and 2.02/1.6" Valves.

Why not just do what they did? If you are having LE or AI do the work on your stock heads, they can spec you out the springs.

 

If you did research you wouldn't have chosen that cam or 1.7 rockers.
I got the info on that cam being spec'd 1.6 rockers from Trickflow's website.

I already put together a 11 second over 2ton LT1 car, so please can you tell me how I don't know what I am doing and how you are going to reinvent the wheel with mismatched catalog parts?

 

Alright apparently everyone is misunderstanding me. And getting upset by what I've said. Granted it may have come off like I was being a dick. First that wasn't my intent. Second, I'm following a local old school engine builders "recipe" if you will. So let's start over. What is a good valve spring to use for a .601 lift cam?

 

The peak lift is just one of several criteria to be considered.

Far as following "old school engine builder recipe" give up now. Old school thinking has screwed up a lot of LT1 builds.

 

I agree with 96CapriceMGR, I grew up being taught old school. He now calls me for advise, that's just the way it goes.

As I stated earlier, the ramps of that cam are fairly aggressive. Going with 1.7:1 on those lobes will either give you valve float really early (like 5K rpms, good bye horsepower) or you'll have to run really stiff springs (which require very strong rockers and lifters and pushrods).

That kit comes with 1.6:1 rockers and the spring specs I listed earlier. If you jump to 1.7:1 rockers you will have to push the springs to 160# @ 1.800" and 480# @ 1.200" just to maintain the same stability at the same rpms; that's assuming you'll find those springs in the right size...

Also note the cam card below. The lobe lift is .331" so at 1.6:1 valve lift is .530 and at 1.7:1 its .563.

Don't worry too much about lift as there's much more to a cam than lift.

Try to view a cam by not just how much the valve is opened, but also how long it is opened, how fast it gets to fully opened and closed, and when it opens and closes. The way we list cam specs really doesn't tell us too much about it.

For example, the cam you selected is open for 220/227 @.050 with 46/45 ramps and opens w 1.6:1 RR a total of .530". If we compare that to another cam that has the same specs, but the ramps are less aggressive at lets say 51/50, then the valve will have less average lift and therefore flow less air. But they'll be easier on the valve train and have more stability at higher RPMs, which is where horsepower is made.

Do yourself a favor and don't chase just lift numbers. Look for the combination of valve events and valve speed. Then maximize it for what your build can handle.

1.7:1 rockers on that cam will cause more problems than benefits. You'll gain 0.033" lift and loose a lot of stability, or spend a lot more trying to get it back.

Here's the cam card.