JaayTeee

I was at the dentist the other day,
thumbing through a hot rod,car craft,
what have you magazine, and I came
across a Comp Cams advertisement for
valve springs shaped like bee hives.

As with any advertisement, these things
sound like the greatest thing since sliced
bread.

Anybody have any experience with these
in a marine application.

jt

cstraub

Yeah, Isky had them 30 years ago. They work just fine but as with any spring, if harmonics are created in the valvetrain then the spring will be greatly affected. There will be some "marine specific" springs coming out in about 6 months. The are in the engineering stages at this time but will be designed for hyd roller valvetrain that sees a constant rpm between 3500 and 6000.

Chris

prosnd

I recently picked up a set of L29 heads, the stock GM springs were behive as were the springs on the peanut ports that came off

Raylar

Our new 496 BigPower aluminum heads have ovate wire conical "beehive" springs on them that we developed and we have been having outstanding results with for over a year now. this type of spring properly made and applied will solve most of the marine spring issues that have been breaking the big block chevys for years. No rubbing steel parts mean way less heat, way less heat means springs hold their poundage and don't break due to the heat or valve train instability due to harmonics. In a few years almost every smart head builder will use them almost exclusivley for most medium horsepower marine engines.

obads 31

RAYLAR DO you have 170 cfm VORTEC style S/B alum, heads that you have used on LG, 427 cu in Bill Mitchell Alum. MTR. I would use closed cooling,of course. My idea is to use this lightweight MTR.in my 26' scarab to keep the overall weight as low as possible. Do those heads use BEE HIVE springs on that type head ???? thanks obads 31

JaayTeee

Ray/ Chris,

Do you think these are suitable
for carbed HP500 application ?

It's time to do 'em..... if these
will do the job, I may give them
a try.


jt

Raylar

JT:
If your motor has a hydraulic roller cam the lift and duration on the HP500 cam should work nicely with the Comp Cam beehive spring. Just make sure you set them up with the recommended retainer and set up the installed height to closely match the Crane spring poundage and you should be in good shape. I think I would set the closed pressure at about 135LBS on the seat and 380 to 410 open should be a good range.

Ray @ Raylar