I hope you guys can help. I have a solid roller XE280 for a 351w Ford. I know that Comp says to use the 939 springs with the cam, but with the valves I have right now I can only get a 1.8" installed height.

Can anyone suggest a spring for this cam so I don't have to change valves or am I up a creek?

thanks
Jeremy

 

Go with .050 up retainers or keepers or both.

 

Yeah - I always use a 1.900" installed height for solid rollers by using +.100/+.200 valves. Like dude said, you need to get some +.050" keepers and +.050 retainers to reach that number. I like the Isky 9315 Indurance series spring for solid rollers.

 

That 939 comp spring does not look right for a solid roller...their catalog says it is 137# @ 1.950" and only 468 on the spring rate is too low...

 

I forgot to say that ya will need lash caps to get the rocker geometry right without hitting the retainer.

I agree on the springs they should be 190/230 on the seat and 590/650 on the nose depending on valve size. Don't worry about RPM's,put enough spring on it to do the job. Over springing is better than under and remember that they will loose 15/25lbs after a few heat cycles.

 

I don't think you have a solid roller, that XE series cam is generally a hydraulic flat tappet or hydraulic roller. So assuming that you are confused and actually have the XE hydraulic roller with .544" lift, I just built heads for that cam today. Used RHS/Pro Action castings and setup at 1.870" installed with Isky 6105 springs for 130# seat/300# open @ .544"

You need to double check what cam you have...comp recomended those springs for a reason...

 

Billet cams can handle increased valve spring pressure so it's always good to go higher in pressures. Once you've gone to a solid roller, you're really limiting your choices of valve springs with such a short install height. The 939 springs are listed as 1.54" diameter. Without knowing how big your spring pockets are, it's hard to give a better choice for a spring.

Manley makes some of the best valve springs with their Nextek line.
http://www.manleyperformance.com/
http://www.manleyperformance.com/pdf...Comp-51-76.pdf

I'd suggest the 22440-16 springs as a first choice
221432-16 as a second choice in the Nextek selection

If you had at least a 2.000" install height, I'd offer better choices.

My current valve springs are starting to lose their pressures. The worst one is at 180 seat pressure. Before the end of the season I'll be putting in a set of 221424P

 

With a 1.900 installed height I got a set from Crower that are 260 on the seat and 780 on the nose@.800. with a 1.600 dia. Springs are available if ya got the time and money to get them and if the pockets need to be larger then any good shop can do it.

 

I agree with the idea that too much spring is better than too little. But the best is the right spring. You want the lightest components that will do the job. Stiffer springs have more mass, produce more heat, put additional stress on the other components of the valve train. Unless you have specific knowledge to the contrary, I'd say go with the spring the cam grinder specifies, or an equivalent.

BTW: I agree about the Nex-Tek springs. Nice, though pricey.

Rich

 

Would it be easier to find one for a hydro roller cam with 244/256 110LSA .595"/.595"? I have both cams. I already have the solid roller lifters, that is why I was wanting to be able to find a spring that would work for it.

The springs I have are 1.44" diameter spring. Can anyone suggest a spring in the same diameter with a 1.8" height that would work for the hydro roller cam? I don't think the springs I have will have enough pressure to control the cam, ~125 seat and ~325 open.

 

I think you're SOL with a big roller cam and a small spring package.

Depending on the head castings, how about getting the spring pockets cut deeper?

 

Ok, I did some measuring and this is what I came up with. The heads are a set of Canfields for a SBF. The spring pocket in the head will accept a 1.55" spring, I have two shims (.016" and .060"), the spring cup (.062" thick, .090" inner dia and .1548" outside dia), the valves are Ferrea valves F6207 for intake and F6202 for exhaust, the spring pocket is in about .170" deep. I'm not too sure on the pocket depth bcuz I had a hard time making sure I was square to the pocket, but I'm pretty sure that is close.

Hope that helps everyone out a little more. I think it is looking better now then it did before. Anyone have suggestions on valve replacements if I need longer valves? If it is any consolation, I plan on running some 1.7 rockers and looking for lift in the .650 range.

 

I was looking through Comps spring catalog, found a couple springs. One is the 917s with 200 @ 1.8 and 539 @ 1.2. Looks a little light compared to what was said earlier. The other was the 943s 240 @ 1.9 and 598 @ 1.25.

 

The rated specification doesn't mean you have to install them at that height. My book has different rates but then it's also a few years old.

They listed the 943 as 235@1.95 635@1.200 coil bind at 1.15
1.95 - 1.20 = .750 lift with coil bind at .800 lift but you always want .050 - .060 between maximum lift and coil bind. The rates you gave for these springs is only good to .650 lift. The spring rate is 543 pounds/inch. If you installed these springs at 1.80, you decrease the available lift to only .600 and you increase the seat pressure to 316.

The 917's are also only good for .600 lift which means if you use 1.7 rockers to get .650 lift, you'll have some valve train damage.

For what you want to do, the 943 and 917's will not fit the bill. Keep looking or get some machine work done to use a taller install height spring.

 

Is there anything I need to watch for when installing/running longer valves or a 2" installed height on a spring?

The seats are wide enough for 1.55 springs and I can get up to a 1.95" installed height with a +.100 retainer and taking out a shim. I will still need lash caps to get the geometery back right?

thanks