So I Wanna Upgrade My Springs & Rockers And I Noticed That 10*titainium Retainers Are $277 And Steel Are Only $49.

What's The Major Differences Between The 2??

 

Weight is the biggest difference, as titanium is much lighter than steel.

 

Titanium is also a ton stonger. You can basically shoot titanium and not harm it. Steel obviously will get ruined.

 

Kool, one other thing I don't understand very well is rockers 1.5, 1.6, and now I saw a 1.7 . And what does 1.7 ratio tell me ?? the more ratio the better ???

 

Not true. Relative strength is the same. But titaium is 43% lighter.

 

Titanium is light weight which is an advantage to a high reving motor (7K rpm+). Overkill for near stock motors turning 5,700 - 6,200 rpm. Lighter is always better for a valve train but your money is best spent eleswhere.

The stock valvetrain comes with 1.5 ratio rocker arms. The rocker arm "multiples" the travel of the valves from the cam lift. So by changing from a 1.5 ratio to a 1.6 ratio you have increased the lift of the valves without having to replace the cam. This comes to play mostly at the higher rpms and lets the heads breath better. Most people have stepped up to 1.6; some are playing with 1.7 and you'll have to read up on their results.

The increased ratio will also compress the valve spring further and can create coil bind (the point were the coil is fully compressed that the coils are hitting each other). This can lead to pushrods braking and therefore I recommend you change your valve springs if you "up your ratio".

 

This is some good info, I've already installed the cam, and I was just waiting for some extra cash to do springs & rockers, so I guess the pushrods & lifters are not that critical right ??? stock ones will do.???

 

Stock lifters and pushrods are fine, if they are hardened pushrods. If they are not, you will need hardened. Normal ones bend easily.

Z28SORR, that's true that titanium is lighter, but that is from the size. The titanium retainers do not have to be as big or thick as steel since it is stronger. So now that the size is smaller, it turns out to be the same strength, even though it is smaller, and that is where the lighter weight comes in. Titanium is a stronger metal if both the titanium and the comparing metal is the same size.

Camshafts advertised lift is usually with 1.5 rockers. Really the lift is somewhere in the .300 plus range. Times .300 or whatever the lift is by 1.5, and you have the actual lift at the valve. The bigger ratio means the pushrod is located closer to the fulcrum of the rocker. So with the same distance of movement from the pushrod, the rocker is really being pushed down further (more degrees).

If that doesn't make sense you can try it with anything. A ruler is what I thought of. Hold it in the middle with one hand. Take the other hand and push up and down on the very end. The movement on both sides is the same. Takes 1" of movement from your hand to move it 1" on the other side. Now move your hand closer to the hand holding it in the middle. It takes less movement to get that 1" on the other side.

 

Stock pushrods are fine if you're not running high valve spring pressures and self aligning rockers. If you buy non-self aligning rockers like the Comp Cams Pro Magnums, you'll need guideplates and hardened push rods; 94's came with hardened pushrods from the factory. You stock lifters will be fine unless they have very high mileage.

 

If your going to talk about material properties you should at least do some research. Titanium is ~43% less dense than carbon steel. A cubic foot of titanium weighs ~280 lb., while a cubic foot of steel weighs ~490 lb. depending on the alloy. So it's lighter because it's lighter not because it's stronger.
The fact that your expensive titanium retainers were slightly thinner than you stock ones doesn't really mean much. The stock ones aren't exactly high quality, high end retainers.

 

wow i paid 137.00 for my comp.cams titanium ret. from jegs.....
as said the titanium ret.will benifit you due to the weight reduction and that actually extends the life of the sping,revs quicker,i would strongly recommend using them if its in your budget.

 

Go with titanium. No sense in adding weight to your valve train. Mine have lasted 11 years so they've way paid for themselves. remember as trivial as these little details sound, its those very details that make your whole combo a good combo...

--Alan

 

Go to page 27, find which retainer you need and lemme know part numbers and I'll get you a price. Adobe file catalog so make sure you have that to open. http://www.howardscams.com/Catalog.pdf

I'll sell ya a set of titanium retainers all day for $200 LMAO!!!

While titanium retainers are'nt a real hp additive in most engines, I've personally seen a few engine dyno pulls where valve float occurs...and these were 100% race prepped engines you would see a slight dip in a few areas at specific rpm's for example it'd pull great to 6400 with an increasing line on the graph, then at 6500 it would dip slgihtly and at 6600 it would pick back up and pull till 7000 and maybe dip again at 7100 then continue it's rise. What was happening was valves were floating at that specific rpm. Only change made was installation of titanium retainers and the graph was a steady incline with no more dips/floating valves.

For a typical engine, and especially one that will never be strapped to a dyno tuning for perfection the average guy will NEVER know the difference, anybody that thinks that addition alone will give any sort of hp boost that will be felt/seen on a track is also mistaken. gains of 20hp on an already tuned set-up will rarely if ever be seen on a time slip, but for dyno racing it's always good to get good number. What I'm really trying to say, save your money unless going max effort as it could be put elsewhere for better parts for longevity.

 

You can only compare density if it is the exact same compound, ie cast steel vs forged steel, forged of course is stronger because it is alot more dense with the exact same compound. As for comparing titanium to steel you need to look at the yield strength more than density. Also you must know what kind of steel exactly you are comparing it to. Low carbon steel= no heat treat or case hardening example 1018. Medium carbon steel= heat treat yielding medium hardness of somewhere around 28 to 32 RC 4140. High carbon steel= very hard when heat treated usual with A2 D2 or O1 RC of about 60 or higher. This is not what i would want in my engine, because it is to the point of being brittle if you hit it with a hammer it will shatter. You would want something to give a little bit under pressure and not just break.

 

While we're still in the heads... let me ask something else.
"Studs" 3/8" or 7/16" ?? Assuming I go with the Pro-magnum 1.6 rocker.