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Opinion Time: Valve Springs

93Rubie

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
777
Location
PA
Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Coupe
A little back ground, this past summer I resurrected a 87 Buick Grand National from basically a, no-start then magically did one day to running like it should. Car basically has sat for the good part of the last decade more or less. Neglected to say the least, lots of BAD on this car, even 1 year old NEW parts, junk, FYI, your parts store fuel pumps may fit a 87 Grand National does not mean you will have adequate fuel output, go Walbro 255L/Hr. no problems....anyhow the one final last straw in this car was a new set of valve springs. I spoke to a expert on these cars (Steve Wood, he knows these cars) and based on what it was doing I replaced the valve springs. He said they where only good for 60K or so. This car has about 70K. The new springs brought the car to life, rev'ev up faster and did not loose its breath at high RPM.

That experience got me thinking, my Corvette is 19 years old with 57K on her. No issues with the car when I parked it for the winter running wise. Really no NEED to replace them, but would it be a good idea? Valve float is never good and I do run the car as intended. Are these LT1 springs much better than the 3.8L springs and can go longer? Or just leave what is NOT broke alone and don't worry about it??? What do you think????

FYI, a popular upgrade for Buick Turbo 3.8L is LT1 springs. LT1 springs does not have a lot of seat pressure but more than good 3.8L springs do, they are light even new.

If I do replace I would think since I'm stock, stock springs will be fine. What about replacing the locks and retainers? I did not do this on the Buick, no reason to. Valve seals make sense if I'm in there. I did them on the Buick, it only had them on in intakes, FYI.
 
Well, I can comment here. When I had my 94, I decided to try and get it to breathe a bit better and bought a set of Crane Gold 1.6 roller rockers. One of the suggestions was that I change out the springs as well. So I purchased a set LT4 springs. While I had it all down, I replace valve seals and retainers too. It was said that these would go higher RPM before floating, so I thought what the heck. They were pretty cheap and readily available.
 
So what your saying is replace the valve springs?

Would you change the keepers and retainers?

Keep in mind noting is broke, my idea is preventative maintenance...springs do get weak as evidenced by my Buick 3.8L Turbo work.
 
Well, I'd say if you had any question you can pull the old ones and have them checked. If in doubt then replace them.
 
Simple answer to the valve spring question is to pull a couple of the springs and test them.

If they meet the range of pressure in the FSM, then there's no need to replace them. If you test 3 or 4 of them and they are weak, I'd replace all 16.

Unless the engine in question has been run hard, I think it unlikely, with only 57,000 miles on the car, you'll need to change springs.
 
Simple answer to the valve spring question is to pull a couple of the springs and test them.

If they meet the range of pressure in the FSM, then there's no need to replace them. If you test 3 or 4 of them and they are weak, I'd replace all 16.

Unless the engine in question has been run hard, I think it unlikely, with only 57,000 miles on the car, you'll need to change springs.

Define ran hard? Granted I do see maybe 25+ 1/4 mile passes a year, auto-x, and I usually find one time to run it thru the gears every time I drive it. The rest of the time, just cruising along.

Keep in mind, I OVER maintain my stuff so...:eyerole

I think for now, I might just leave well enough alone. The old adage goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
 
Define ran hard? (snip)

A lot of time running the engine at the upper end of its RPM range and/or numerous instances of hitting the rev limiter.

If the engine gets 25+ drag strip passes a year and you autocross, then you run the car hard.

I'd pull the springs and test them. If they met the specs in the FSM, there's really no reason to change. If the springs are below the minimums or close to them, I'd replace them. If you replace the springs, buy new retainers and locks, too.
 
Replace.

Never walk past wear parts on the way to something else. Replace wear parts as they are encountered. Springs in a motor that gets spun to redline 5 times a yr get soft. Its just as much about hot/cold cycles as it is tension/compression.

A replacement/upgrade with fresh seals and keepers...all for under $100? :thumb

you betcha...
 
Replace.

Never walk past wear parts on the way to something else. Replace wear parts as they are encountered. Springs in a motor that gets spun to redline 5 times a yr get soft. Its just as much about hot/cold cycles as it is tension/compression.

A replacement/upgrade with fresh seals and keepers...all for under $100? :thumb

you betcha...

I'm going this route. They way I run my car, it figure it is a GOOD idea. No problems, but I don't want any either.
 
I'm going this route. They way I run my car, it figure it is a GOOD idea. No problems, but I don't want any either.

Rubie, its cheap insurance.

Anytime you have access to critical wear parts when doing other work, its just as easy to reassemble with new as it is to put old stuff back together and go to bed wondering...if...when...shoulda?
Besides, this is opportunity to do a little upgrade. Faster springs and if you want, throw some better rockers on there. New push rods too...Roll a few around to see if any are tweaked. Betcha find a couple that may not be exactly straight...
Fresh seals are always good.

Thats my opinion...fwiw. I'm of the opinion that access is an opportunity to get ahead of parts failures.
 

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