[MarkS57]

Reading the Comp Cams Hi Intensity lifter install instructions, they say to remove the inners springs on dual spring sets for break in. These are Johnson sourced so they are good quality. I have dual springs, the seat pressure being 112 lbs & open will be around 325 lbs at .480" lift maybe- which is moderate I would think. I have the zinc loaded Comp Cams break in oil so should be in good shape that way.

Is the engine community doing the spring removal? Seems extreme? Should I just shut up and do it?!

Thanks!

Mark

[78w72]

im sure removing the springs is extra insurance... but i didnt do that on any of my ~.480 lift comp cams & never had a problem. much bigger lift or spring pressure & its more of a benefit. but if you do everything else right & the engine fires up quickly, it should be ok without removiing the springs. lots of good cam lube on the lobes & good oil with the additive & you should be ok IMO.

[grivera]

It really depends on your comfort level. What are Johnson's instructions? When l installed CC 852-16 lifters and a .480 cam in my #'s matching engine I removed the inner springs cause I didn't want to take any chances plus its what CC instructions say to do. I ended up doing a 20 minute break-in session without inners and another 20 minutes with inners. Overkill I'm sure but no regrets.

[61-63]

If you don't remove the springs and your cam goes flat you are going to want to kick yourself.

[lust4speed]

It has always been common practice with setups using extreme pressures to remove the inner spring. So the seat pressure is reduced from 180+ on solid flat tappet cams to a more reasonable 130 or so.

What I don't agree with is the cam companies demanding the inner spring be removed on a dual spring setup that is starting out at 125 pounds. To me, it is just a another way to cop out of the blame for inferior components.

[Squidward]

Spring removal is what Lunati said to do for my Voodoo cam, so spring removal is what I did.

It was a couple extra hours of busy work after break in to install the inners. Not a big deal. Biggest PITA was being very careful to not lose a valve keeper.

[gtofreek]

I would not waste time pulling springs for that little of pressure. The important things is to get the engine fired immediately. You do not want to have to crank on it for a while to get fuel or play around with the timing. Static time it before hand, and fill the carb with fuel so the engine will fire right away. That's where lobes go flat. It's when people crank it over for a minute or two, trying to get it to fire.

Fire up right away, and take it to 2500 rpm, and don't let it idle for the first 25 minutes. If it gets hot, shut it down, let it cool off, and then repeat until you have 25 minutes of fast idle on it, then you should be good to go.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

I would not waste time pulling springs for that little of pressure. The important things is to get the engine fired immediately. You do not want to have to crank on it for a while to get fuel or play around with the timing. Static time it before hand, and fill the carb with fuel so the engine will fire right away. That's where lobes go flat. It's when people crank it over for a minute or two, trying to get it to fire.

Fire up right away, and take it to 2500 rpm, and don't let it idle for the first 25 minutes. If it gets hot, shut it down, let it cool off, and then repeat until you have 25 minutes of fast idle on it, then you should be good to go.

that was my thinking too.

the spring type & pressure comp said to use for the cams i used with around .480 lift i think werent even true double springs, they just had the inner damper coil & that doesnt have much pressure. this was for a xe268 with right at .480 lift & the other was the magnum series with .480. with everything else done right it "should" be fine. but yes theres always the "what if" factor.

also if youre pulling the springs with the heads on the engine im sure you know that you need an air compressor & the spark plug hose tool to keep the valves pushed up as you remove the spring. & usually the valve spring compressors they rent at the auto parts stores are pretty crappy.

good luck either way. i will be firing up a friends motor pretty soon with a little bigger crower cam & johnson lifters.

[Tim Corcoran]

I agree with Paul, if you have 112 on the seat and you have good oil with ZDDP or you add some, follow correct break in procedure you should be fine.

[danswrld]

I have always used single springs with cams under .500 lift. Wonder why Comp wants a dual spring with that cam? My single springs did have an inner damper though, so the looked like there was an extra spring in there but there was not, and if yours have that then no, don't remove that. I have dual springs on a race motor with a solid flat tappet cam in it and I did pull the inner springs for break in, but that's just my .02. Was time consuming to put the inner springs back in but I have a compressor and the adapter tool for the spark plug hole so using a stud mounted spring compressor was a piece of cake.

[MarkS57]

Thanks for the input, very much appreciated. I've been out of the V8 building biz for lots of years (70's?) so the spring removal was somewhat of a surprise. Back then, Crane or TRW anti-pump up lifters were common and never did I remove any springs. I do have the stud mounted spring compressor if I decide to do it. One thing about the old cars, changing a cam is no where near the PIA it is on the modern ones. Sometimes you can go home again maybe.

BR's,

Mark

[gtofreek]

Pontiac's had dual springs from the factory. The reason being is that they used a 30° intake valve seat instead of 45° like Chevy's and most other engines. The 30° seat had more of a tendency to bounce the valve off the seat than a 45°. Because of this, they need more seat pressure from the spring[115-120 lbs. compared to 80 lbs. for 45° seat heads], without getting the open pressure too high. So by using dual springs, they can get what they want. A single spring making 115-120 lbs. on the seat, would have to have a much higher spring rate, which will raise the pressure at lift too high. With the duals, they can use two weak springs to get seat pressure up, without raising the open pressure too high.

[t money]

I have a set of 1.3 crowler roller rocker. Run them and the cam lobe see a lower pressure Only used them one time so far but worked great after brake in installed the 1.5 rocker and set lash

[steve25]

I am fine with doing the break in with both springs , but your going to need to pull it apart to get the seat pressure up, as after break in or shortly after ( some times 2K miles ) your gonna find that 112 psi of seat pressure down by 10 psi and that is too little !
I set up new hydro springs for non roller motors at 125 to 130 psi so that 10 psi normal loss is not a issue.
You may be able to get by with 112 psi on the exh valve, but that bigger intake needs more than that!