i have an powermax 2032 cam. With 1.6 rockers it would have a lift of 482/.486.... what springs should i use for my car... i dont want really expensive ones... are there some on ebay i can get for cheap..... how do i know which springs to use in my car... can i just buy new stock springs or what.. would they handle that much lift....

i got an 88 trans am gta with the 350 motor......

 

im tryin to figure out the same thing... i wanna run the HOT CAM at .492 lift and i want to upgrade the springs for the extra lift and not break my budget. but i wouldnt skimp on springs

 

Comp Cams spring 981-16 1.25" is made to handle .490 lift and install height is 1.70 which is just like the original height not to expensive either would be ok for both of you i think.......or at least for you "88fastgta",maybe "customblackbird" should look at some Lunati/Cranes H-11 springs but they have some 130lbs springpressure which is at the limit of hydraulic lifters if i remember correct they handle something like .540 lift and still at the 1.25" spring size.

 

yea i think im gona go wit the comp 981's, some offset locks +.050, and shim that bad boy .045... i think i'll get .530 max lift on the safe side and with that lift im prob gona run the 1.6RR to take full advantage of the hotcams lift. someone told me that hydraulic lifters cant take over 350lbs or i could collapse the lifter....the 981's have 417lbs...am i screwed?

 

If it helps any, I run Isky 250-D (I think that part # is right) valve springs for a ZZ4 (.510 lift) cam on stock iron L98 heads. The springs were nearly identical to stock dimensions except for their ability to accept up to .550" lift without coil bind. They run at a pretty mild pressure as well. No problems yet other than valve seals getting beat up from too tight of clearance, which is kind of annoying, but due to me not having the valve guide boss cut down before installing everything, not the spring choice.

 

If you cut the spring pockets I would run some Comp 986's or run the Beehives

 

yea i didnt want to do any machine work to the head tho, reason im staying with the L98 heads is bc im eventually goin with a 383 and i dont want to spend alot and i want it to swap over and i want more power now.

 

You boys running close to 500 lift be alarmed that your studs may be pulled out. I peronally would pull the heads and pin the studs or better yet convert to screw in's

 

Your 981's wont be near 417lbs lol. They are just an upgrade from staock at 105 on the seat and 273 open. Even shimmed they will be just a tad more. On my MR motor I am running 140 on the seat and 420 open with stock 91K lifters.

 

so will i get away with just swapping out the springs for 981's? or would i have to get the offset locks etc? i dont want to throw alot into the heads bc im dumping them when the 383 is ready. yea i thought 417lbs was high but thats wat someone told me. and i got 130,000 on the original crap/lifters lol

 

The 981 springs were really designed for a flat tappet cam, although I have used them successfully on very mild hydraulic roller cams as well (read: factory roller cams). On that cam, they might work OK. Certainly they would work better than stock springs, that's for sure! But with even more aggressive 1.6 rockers thrown in the mix I would get the springs actually recommended for that cam.

The recommended springs for that cam are these....

http://cranecams.com/index.php?show=...&lvl=3&prt=122

The recommended installed height is 1.75" which is usually about .050" taller than stock. Might want to check out some +.050 locks for use with your stock retainers. Other than that, they are a drop-in replacement for stock.

 

Welcome to the .500 lift with stock heads club! I just finished going through the same dilemna as you guys, so if there's a thread that I can contribute some good research to, it's this one. The bad news I'll tell you right off the bat is even though you're keeping the stock heads, you can't really do this on a tight budget. I'm now into my "stock" heads about $500. I agree with Mkos1980 that you should definitely get screw-in studs installed. I did this on mine. From the research I've done lately, it seems that Comp cams recommends their magical 986 spring for just about every hyd. roller cam they sell. As much money as I've already dumped into my "stock" heads, I just refused to spend more to have the spring seats machined for the larger diameter 986 springs. After hours and hours of looking at valve springs, I finally came across a set of stock diameter, 1.25" springs that have almost identical specs as the 986's. Isky's 235D springs are an almost perfect match and fit in the stock spring pocket. If you get these, along with their #707-STA retainers, it gives you the right specs, including a 1.75" installed height, along with enough retainer to guide clearance for .500 lift. The seat pressure is 130 lbs.(same as the 986), which is the most you want to go with hyd. roller lifters, and the spring rate is 350 lbs. per inch, which is also the same as the 986's. Here's where the budget problem is though. The springs are $100, and the retainers are another $70. The reason I went this route though is that it still comes out cheaper than buying the 986's, matching retainers, and having the spring seats enlarged. The irritating part for me is the fact that I've now invested over $500 into my stock heads to try and stay on a budget, and that $500 is halfway there for the price of a good used set of AFR's or Trick Flows. Regardless, hopefully this info will help out you other guys wanting to run a .500 lift cam with stock heads.

 

Thats the part # I meant- 235D, they have run great for me, 3000 miles on .510 lift, and no studs pulled, no valve float, although sometimes it appears as if a valve seal gets stuck or is broke, as every now and then on startup I get a little puff of blue. However, there was absolutely no machine work done to these heads whatsoever. These springs should do fine for you.