Question: head lift

[LRose26]

If the cylinder head has a max lift of .475", 1-what does that mean? and 2-does that stop me from using certain cams?

 

[Art Jett]

It's not the "head lift", it's valve travel. You can change springs and increase it. Yea it will limit your choice of cam.

 

[LRose26]

I just need to get a book that explains all of this stuff to me. Any suggestions?

 

[JohnZ]

I just need to get a book that explains all of this stuff to me. Any suggestions?

"How To Rebuild Your Small-Block Chevy" by David Vizard, published by HP Books, is the best reference to understand about your engine. You'll find it on-line at Amazon.com and at all major booksellers (Borders, etc.).

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

It's not the "head lift", it's valve travel. You can change springs and increase it. Yea it will limit your choice of cam.

Changing the springs will not affect valve lift, or travel. Cam profile and/or rocker ratio will.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

John Lingenfelter and Dave Emmanuel have also written good small block Chevy books.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Changing the springs will not affect valve lift, or travel. Cam profile and/or rocker ratio will.

This is not correct.

A valve spring choice can influence valve lift and "travel".

If you pick a spring which reaches coil bind before the camshaft reaches maximum lift, you will have inadequate "travel" and valve train breakage.

On books, if you are looking about discussions of basic small-block Chevrolet subject, books with "How to Rebuild..." or "Rebuilding..." are great choices. CarTech has some good books on the basics, some even include DVDs.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

You can change springs and increase it. Yea it will limit your choice of cam.

Changing the springs will not affect valve lift, or travel. Cam profile and/or rocker ratio will.

This is not correct.

A valve spring choice can influence valve lift and "travel".

If you pick a spring which reaches coil bind before the camshaft reaches maximum lift, you will have inadequate "travel" and valve train breakage.

So then you agree with the bolded statment above? I presumed that the OP would be smart enough to use properly matched components. :eyerole

 

[Art Jett]

If he already know about that, he probably wouldn't have posed the question. All I meant was as Hib said. The springs will limit the amount of travel. I suppose I wasn't clear enough. If you change them to a set that will allow more, you can use a more agressive cam profile.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

The OP by his own admission is at the beginning of the learning curve and if you re-read any of our answers, none of them explained things well.

Let's start again.

Most engine builders, speed shops or bench racers like to specify max. valve lift. This number by itself doesn't mean much and bigger is not always better. It's a simple measurement that indicates how far the cam and rocker arm combo are capable of moving a valve off it's seat.

 

[Curtis]

Here is a quick easy read to introduce you to the basics of camshaft operation. Camshaft Basics - Tech Article - Chevy High Performance Magazine