Valve spring

[Civic TSI]

I was told that my valves spring were Bullfrog but by doing some research I found out that Bullfrog doesn't seems to make any and that Webcam valve spring kit correspond exactly to what I have (double spring, titanium valve retainer, same price).

The shop that I am now also did some research and one of his distributer said that they installed once a WebCam valve spring kit on a NA engine and the springs also broke. Yeah, it sure sound like my springs. The shop finaly came up with Zex single valves springs for turbo application, anyone heard anything good or bad about these springs ?

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To 24 PSI, and beyond !
HS Le Club

[PSICYCLE]

Web makes good springs and retainers, but they have to be installed at the correct heights, or they'll break.
You can't just slap a set on. I know all about it because we've used their springs for bike racing for years. If you set them up at the heights they recommend, they'll outlive the rest of the engine.

[Civic TSI]

Their retainer are great, to bad they only work with their springs and I haven't said that their springs sucks, but using shims doesn't sound good to me, I have to use 2 for my application cuz I'm running 20psi, so maybe I had some coil bind which is normally what broken springs mean.

------------------
To 24 PSI, and beyond !
HS Le Club

[PSICYCLE]

I don't know of any good engine builders who don't use shims. They are the only way to achieve the correct installed height when assembling heads.
No two head porters grind valve seat heights the same, so shims are the only way you can adjust the spring height.
You install a retainer on a valve and push it down to maximum lift to see if it clears the valve seal and guide, prior to assembly with springs. If theres <.080" clearance, all's ok. There's no excuse for not checking it.

[Civic TSI]

First, let me tell you that I enjoy reading your answer cuz I'm learning about this. Second, I'm pretty sure the person installed them correctly and check everything, he has over 20 years of experience. But talking about the spring height, if the right height is acheive by using 1 shim, would using 2 shims (recommended by Web Cam) mean not having the right height anymore ?


------------------
To 24 PSI, and beyond !
HS Le Club

[PSICYCLE]

You should always install springs to the specified height, or according to pressure if you have the equipment to measure it.
You should only use the amount of shims that will give you the correct height between the spring seat and the outer spring edge of the retainer. Use whatever number of shims is necessary, but do not use all the shims that come with the springs. Web frequently includes enough shims for worst-case situations.
Sometimes I don't need any of their shims to achieve the right height, especailly if the head is on it's first valve job and the seats weren't sunk too far into the head (that's bad).
It's not confusing once you do it a couple times. You'll need a little machinists scale like they sell at Sears or tool supplies and a little patience.

[Civic TSI]

Here's what they wrote to me:

Fits D16Z6, Use the .030 Shims for EX ONLY!
For turbo use install the springs as follows:
Turbo's use .030 shims intake, .060 shims exhaust (tell us that it is for
Turbo use and we can order the additional .060 shims for you)

What do you think of this ?

------------------
To 24 PSI, and beyond !
HS Le Club

[PSICYCLE]

I would be very upset if the springs stacked solid do to lack of space.
Too many shims won't cause the retainer to hit the top of the guide or the valve seal though.
Their instructions should have just said to shim to the recommended height.
I think that too many companies are trying to over simplify things in order to make everything a bolt-on today. The market demands bolt-on type pieces, but theres a lot that just isn't that easy.
Sorry about your troubles.