ok, got my heads in, did some clean up and some quick measuring to see where ill have to machine
now im not ganna machine anything until i have my new spring kit to machine only as much as needed

for my measurements i threw a valve in with the stock keepers and retainer and started measuring with a telescoping gauge from the spring seat to the bottom of the retainer where the spring sits
installed height= 1.648
height with retainer sitting on valve guide= 1.030ish (cant remember exactly)
the stock springs @ 1.7 installed height were 70ish lbs

now this has me thinking, the springs in getting are installed at 1.75, thats ganna be a lot of material to remove, would it be safe to install them at 1.7 and just get ~135lbs vs the 125lbs at 1.75?
i figure the valve job will remove some material, but idk how deep i can machine the spring seat

also- anyone know the inside and outside dia of stock vortec springs? just wanna get an idea of the diff from the 1.260/ .875 springs will be putting in

 

The retainers that come with the new springs will probably have the top of the spring higher than stock.
You should wait until you get them in, mock them up and measure.
Same thing for the OD of the spring. The 1.260 sounds stock to me.
The spring with a higher retainer may be drop-in replacements for stock. If they are, you probably won't have to machine anything.

 

There are good aftermarket 1.26 springs that will work with stock heads for cam upgrades, also dont machine the valve spring seats, use offset retainers

 

oh sweet, ya the springs are stock size for sbc heads, but idk if they were the same for vortecs... they're .550 lift springs with 125lbs installed pressure (vs the 70 they're at now, and the 40 my other heads had)

if this is truely the case, idk why everyone doesnt get vortecs, 1.26 springs can go over .550 lift easy

 

There is something about the valve guide thats different on the vortecs, guide od iirc. The problem with the vortecs is retainer to guide clearance. Alot of guys slap a set of beehives on and call it a day.