v8sten

Did they have a bad batch? What's going on with them?

03BlkZ

I think it is just some are getting some miles on them and starting to check. I'm sure we will see more in the future.

Spartan07

To elaborate on what 03BlkZ said, its also a combination of improper rocker arm concentricity (some LS7 heads, not all), too aggressive of a cam profile, improper valve AND valve guide material... I could be wrong though.

Innovate

~STOLEN~

ya 1500.00 rocker system, 300 to mill head and ONLY if you set lash correctly, will it prolong or fix this issue.

i think it will happen on every set of heads eventually, fixed not fixed, no one is free from the problem.

tascar7

"This will fix your heads" does not mean "This will fix your heads". Hence no warranties.

MTPZ06

There's more to the story than just "WCCH heads". I have every bit of confidence that my AHP/MS90 heads with stock cam, stock rockers with live to see 100K miles or more. Do I think WCCH heads can do that as well given the same parameters...yes. Start changing variables to the equation, and I would expect there will be a different outcome.

Dirty Howie

Well there were only TWO threads.

But now there are THREE


DH

Frankie2blue

This is pretty much what I have been thinking also. Everyone seems to want to start throwing higher lift cams, milling, retuning etc when they do the heads so it is near impossible to get a reading on what’s really going on. Then I have heard lately that there were actually two companies manufacturing these heads and one was good geometry and the other not? Not sure about that one.
Anyway I still have not found any threads pointing to the above stated heads coming back with bad wear issues yet as I have been seeing with the WCCH heads with bronze guides. I really feel this issue would have been completely solved by now if everyone didn’t mod the hell out of the car when re doing the heads.
I still can’t understand however why Katech is not using MS90 guides though if they are as good as they are supposed to be and why they still continue on with the bronze guides.

Unreal

Because it is more complex than just swapping heads.

Can WCCH be a good long term fix, yes, with ther proper setup.

Roller rockers are not needed, fancy guides are not needed. Unless you have a setup that does need them. People are finding out that you can't just run a huge aggressive cam and think because heads are "fixed" that guides won't wear.

Now if your concern is valve drop, and you did some upgrades valves, then yes, they are probably fixed, and the only concern is really if you may burn some oil as they get extremely out of spec.

Unreal

Because properly setup, like Katech does, bronze guides work fine and have no issues.

vertC6

I just tested my AHP with Moldstar 90 guides and YT rockers and they are solid as a rock after 5k miles.

rio95

rio95

rio95

v8sten

I put more than 30k mile on my old Z06 after the "fix" and Brian Tooley recommends to change the BTR platinums after 25k miles. So I replaced them after 30k and checked the guides and everything checked out good. I had Frankenstein Heads.

Mordeth

WCCH used bronze guides in 2009/2010 when they started replacing the guides and fixing LS7 heads. GM did not let them just purchase new replacement OEM guides (which would have been fine). They would have to purchase an entire head just to get the guides they wanted. So they were forced to go to bronze as it was the only after market solution they could find at the time. Richard has gone on record stating that he did not desire to do that, but had no choice. This is not to say bronze guides won't work, but let's not pretend that they intentionally chose bronze over another superior material. It was the only choice they had, so bronze is what you get (and they have stuck with it).

Richard stated 7 years ago this, and I quote:

"The primarly reason we use bronze valve guides is because GM will not sell the guides separately. Rather they will sell you an entire replacement head. The aftermarket parts supply only furnishes bronze alloy valve guides. I personally like the powdered metal valve guides the factory uses but the supplier does not sell piece meal to the public. Additionally we have no long term wear issues with the bronze guides and solid stem stainless steel valves."

BigVette427

I give AHP a lot of credit for sourcing thier own proprietary guides, and having them cut to the OE spec, too. First, they sourced a PM blend that was a superior HRB to the GM PM guides, and then they explored exotic racing alloys in Moldstar 90. Kohle mentioned to me the tooling costs of Moldstar 90, suffice to say that's why not everybody is offering Moldstar 90; it took brains and cajones to start tinkering with that stuff.

Neat from an engineering perspective, not to mention a cool move from a business perspective as well.

Innovate

BigVette427

What cam lobes and lift are you running? Changing out valve springs every 25k miles sounds like the early hot-rodding days of the LS1 back in the early 2000's.

But the point was that when they fresh from WCCH, they were concentric and in spec. The combination that was then run for 10k miles tells the story. As Jason from Katech points out, if you're running bronze guides without the Ti/Mo valves, standby for disappointment.