I'm going to be putting in a z06 cam(.550 lift) and I'm wondering what a good spring to go with is? I'm debating between comp 918's or patriot spring, ti retainers, tocks and seals. I'm thinking in the future I will put in 1.8 rocker arms. Do the 918's work well with the stock retainer and locks? What is the advantage of Ti retainers? Should I even worry about the seals? My motor has 56,000 on it and doesn't use anyoil. Also with the smaller base circle cam do I need longer pushrods or hardend ones?
Thanks in advance.

 

The comp 918s are great.

The titanium locks are to be "some what" stronger and to have less weight in the valvetrain.

You will need longer AND hardened pushrods.

I wouldn't worry about the seals unless the look bad when you get everything apart.

 

As an old diesel truck mechanic myself, I agree with everything that joshua022 says except for the valve seals. If the seals have more than 20,000 miles, I'd never remove the valve springs without replacing the seals considering their cost, they are prone to wear and if they leak, your car burns oil.

Steve

 

Do seals, I did factory ones, the ones to use will be off of a 00 or so 5.3, the retainers are attached to the seals on the newer ones so dont get those. http://texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp...d=211&catid=48, those will be good with your cam, I dont prefer the 918's, check speed inc for some good stuff.

 

My recommendation would be to save some money on the 1.8 rockers and springs, and go with some yellow LS6 springs that can be had for less than $100 from one of our sponsors such as SDPC. Those springs and that cam go together like peanut butter and jelly The titanium retainers aren't really necessary either, unless you really want them just because.

I would definitely recommend some hardened pushrods...not sure what size you'll need though, maybe 7.4 or 7.425? As for the valve seals, it's your call. If you want to replace them for piece of mind or as some cheap insurance, go for it. I swapped my cam and springs at 37K and left the valve seals alone...no problems thus far

 

The 918's are perfect for the LS6 cam and will fit using the stock retainers. I've never been a fan of changing rocker ratio. If you plan on keeping the motor as is for another 56,000 miles then I would do seals. If this is a stop gap to something bigger in the future then I wouldn't worry about seals now. Yes, you will need longer pushrods with the LS6 cam.

Bill

 

The Yellow springs are nice, but anything bigger than a ZO6 cam will butter them up. Trust me. I just did a spring swap/ti retainers and did my seals at the same time, a bit tedious but worth the time for piece of mind.

 

BC, what springs did you use? The Crane double ones? That's the ones I have been running. How much trouble was the install on the Rockers? I heard they're a bitch, but worth it. Vinci did mine, but while I was there, they must have taken a dozen calls from people that ran into trouble during the install of the Crane rockers.

 

I used the crane double, Ti retainers and gold 1.7 rockers. Pretty easy once we got past the springs, and really simple to set up once Rex showed me the trick. Worth the money and time IMHO.

 

show off.. looks good!