can someone tell me the difference in spring retainers? im looking at getting a set of ls6 yellow valve springs and it says that if im going to run these springs in my vortecs i need to get comp cams retainers. but i fail to see the difference in the retainers because i still have my stock valve spring retainers.

 

It's all about the R-G clearance on vortec's. If the retainer is too large, you wont get enough clearance and then you will break some springs. I know that my alex's retainers added alot of clearance over my stock retainers for my vortec heads, i forget the exact number now though.

Running a good seal will also help with your clearance, just make sure you measure from the bottom of the retainer to the top of the valve stem seal with a digital caliper to insure that you have enough clearance and wont be breaking anything. That's how i got my .540 lift cam in my vortecs.