[Steve C.]

After they first became popular David Vizard used a beehive spring in a Chevy big block solid roller application. It's my understanding a BBC valvetrain mass will vary but I'll assume in this application it could have been heaiver than some higher performance Pontiac applications using longer & larger diameter valves and our pushrod length. It was used in conjunction with a Comp 286XSR (248 degree) solid street roller to about 6200 rpm with about 150 lbs seat pressure. I believe it was 410 lbs over the nose. He stated, for those not familiar with this high-tech spring, that seat pressure number might look a little on the low side. But to understand how effective they can be, you need to bare in mind that to swap to these low-mass springs has more effect on increasing rpm than making a change to titanium valves. At the time with a beehive spring a ballpark figure was that with 10 percent less spring, the engine will turn about 12 percent more rpm and show better control all the way up the rpm range. These numbers were over 6 years ago, today the numbers might be different.

( 130 -145 lbs seat pressure can be risky business with solid roller lifters and conventional valve springs !! Lose enough spring pressure and the lifter can lose contact on the lobe as the valve closes, after time the springs can further deteriorate to the point it can cause issues other than a nosing over at rpm. From a Jim McFarland article..."What can cause valves to "bounce" during a closing cycle? Insufficient valve spring pressure, improperly designed camshaft lobe profile, and excessive rpm are among the leading issues. Not only can cylinder pressure be lost but also damage frequently occurs to valve seats, spring retainers and valve keepers. In addition, valve springs become weakened each time a condition of bounce takes place. In addition, the problem will occur at a lower and lower rpm each time a spring is subjected to this condition." )

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