Valvesprings/Valvetrain for extreme duty NA road course use

Chris_Red_V8

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Scottsdale, Az
there's a shocking lack of information out there about the coyote valve train and its requirements to work reliably in a road course environment. So much so to the point where people either are willing to guess and try random parts (usually at their own peril with mixed results), or stick with the factory or factory "racing" parts (usually at their own peril with mixed results)

Doing my own research, I believe the PAC-1234x spring may have been used by Roush Yates Engines to build out their IMSA/PWC 302R upgrade engines. That information is unconfirmed but I've reached out to RYE.

What I wanted to find out is have people successfully used aftermarket springs/retainers/valvetrain components for a length of time (aka, a standard racing engine service lifetime) with excellent reliability? I can count a dozen broken motors on here that had aftermarket parts there, (though as many if not more stock ones as well).

Going back to the PAC spring, Its 240lbs/in, with a Seat Pressure 92 @ 1.575" (100 @1.500)
and Open Pressure 200 @ 1.000" (though I've seen 218, 230 as well for different specs)
(though numbers vary depending on install height, cam lift and other factors)

The boss 302 oem spring (which can vary significantly) 67lbs (300N) to 157lbs (700N)

its a bit of a jump and presents the following concerns:

Will it bend or break the hollow valvestems of the boss 302 valves? (PAC says no, internet says maybe, 1 case of a turbo car doing such)

Will VCT work with it? (some say yes, some say yes with less accuracy, my tuner says absolutely not)

Are they a true drop in? (pac says yes, but recommends Ti retainers)


I'm looking down this rabbit hole as one of my failures may have been related to a boss 302 valvespring failure (or float near redline). Obviously I can lower the redline and try to avoid the limiter, but sometimes in racing all bets are off and I want to engineer the strongest most reliable setup I can and then work on the driver as well.
 

clinton2003

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Dec 3, 2012
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Colorado
well it depends on what your wanting to accomplish. I havent heard of anyone breaking a boss valve, but everyone i know used aftermarket or gt valves if they go with boost.

i have a boosted coyote with stock intake valves, inconel exhaust valves, and THESE valve springs. They arent as stiff as the 1234x springs but you are supposed to be able to run full cam timing with them (people do run 1234x with full cam timing). I didnt want to lose my cam timing because i like to drive mine around a lot. Plus i have a theory that leaving the phasers in and active puts less stress on the secondary chains so you dont have to upgrade them, at least right away (kinda kicking myself now for not doing that already...)

I know a few people that have run the boss springs and after so long, they tend to have uneven seat pressure. It's probably why they are so cheap.
 

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