LS3 Valves.. Are they durable enough?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 238
Likes: 10
From: dallas TX
LS3 Valves.. Are they durable enough?
I have done a lot to my 2012 LS3, including supercharging, etc. The one untouched stock thing is the base heads. I am trying to decide if I should get the "GM LY6 1.59 HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAVY DUTY INCONEL EXHAUST VALVE" set installed. I have heard that the stock intakes are hollow Stem. Are they durable for maybe 8 pounds of boost and a medium cam? Are the stock exhaust valves hollow as well?
I am also hoping to get a CNC porting done while the heads are off. I have considered Lingenfelter as well as Texas Speed, however Texas Speed does not do Inconel valves. The tech said it had to due with a need for Beryllium (seats? Valve guides? Can not remember). Lingenfelters tech said there process uses stock seats and guides.
Does anyone know where beryllium comes in on this?
I am open to other vendors for the CNC porting.
I am also hoping to get a CNC porting done while the heads are off. I have considered Lingenfelter as well as Texas Speed, however Texas Speed does not do Inconel valves. The tech said it had to due with a need for Beryllium (seats? Valve guides? Can not remember). Lingenfelters tech said there process uses stock seats and guides.
Does anyone know where beryllium comes in on this?
I am open to other vendors for the CNC porting.
Former Vendor
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 262
Likes: 13
From: Decatur IN
LS3 valves
We have had very good durability on the OEM LS3 valves (hollow stem intake and stock solid stem exhaust).
We normally only switch to Inconel exhaust valves on turbocharged and supercharged engine applications.
The OEM GM powdered metal guides and seats are compatible with Inconel valves. GM uses Inconel valves (or a similar high nickel content high temperature valve material) in some of the truck engine applications that use the same seat and guide material as the LS3 cylinder heads.
For durability the LS3 guides are not compatible with the coating on the OEM and most aftermarket/racing titanium valves but the LS7/LS9 guide material is compatible with the coating. For applications that want to use titanium valves in an LS3 style cylinder head we use the LS9 castings and then put our LS3 CNC program into the LS9 head, making it effectively an LS3 runner and chamber but with the LS9 casting and seats/guides.
Not sure if this is where the beryllium part comes from but if you don't use the OEM LS7/LS9 parts that are designed for titanium valves then you would usually need to change to beryllium when using titanium valves. When we have converted SBC and LT5 heads to titanium valves we normally use beryllium as this is what most of the titanium valve (Del West etc.) and valve coating manufacturers recommend.
We normally only switch to Inconel exhaust valves on turbocharged and supercharged engine applications.
The OEM GM powdered metal guides and seats are compatible with Inconel valves. GM uses Inconel valves (or a similar high nickel content high temperature valve material) in some of the truck engine applications that use the same seat and guide material as the LS3 cylinder heads.
For durability the LS3 guides are not compatible with the coating on the OEM and most aftermarket/racing titanium valves but the LS7/LS9 guide material is compatible with the coating. For applications that want to use titanium valves in an LS3 style cylinder head we use the LS9 castings and then put our LS3 CNC program into the LS9 head, making it effectively an LS3 runner and chamber but with the LS9 casting and seats/guides.
Not sure if this is where the beryllium part comes from but if you don't use the OEM LS7/LS9 parts that are designed for titanium valves then you would usually need to change to beryllium when using titanium valves. When we have converted SBC and LT5 heads to titanium valves we normally use beryllium as this is what most of the titanium valve (Del West etc.) and valve coating manufacturers recommend.
I have done a lot to my 2012 LS3, including supercharging, etc. The one untouched stock thing is the base heads. I am trying to decide if I should get the "GM LY6 1.59 HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAVY DUTY INCONEL EXHAUST VALVE" set installed. I have heard that the stock intakes are hollow Stem. Are they durable for maybe 8 pounds of boost and a medium cam? Are the stock exhaust valves hollow as well?
I am also hoping to get a CNC porting done while the heads are off. I have considered Lingenfelter as well as Texas Speed, however Texas Speed does not do Inconel valves. The tech said it had to due with a need for Beryllium (seats? Valve guides? Can not remember). Lingenfelters tech said there process uses stock seats and guides.
Does anyone know where beryllium comes in on this?
I am open to other vendors for the CNC porting.
I am also hoping to get a CNC porting done while the heads are off. I have considered Lingenfelter as well as Texas Speed, however Texas Speed does not do Inconel valves. The tech said it had to due with a need for Beryllium (seats? Valve guides? Can not remember). Lingenfelters tech said there process uses stock seats and guides.
Does anyone know where beryllium comes in on this?
I am open to other vendors for the CNC porting.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 238
Likes: 10
From: dallas TX
We have had very good durability on the OEM LS3 valves (hollow stem intake and stock solid stem exhaust).
We normally only switch to Inconel exhaust valves on turbocharged and supercharged engine applications.
The OEM GM powdered metal guides and seats are compatible with Inconel valves. GM uses Inconel valves (or a similar high nickel content high temperature valve material) in some of the truck engine applications that use the same seat and guide material as the LS3 cylinder heads.
For durability the LS3 guides are not compatible with the coating on the OEM and most aftermarket/racing titanium valves but the LS7/LS9 guide material is compatible with the coating. For applications that want to use titanium valves in an LS3 style cylinder head we use the LS9 castings and then put our LS3 CNC program into the LS9 head, making it effectively an LS3 runner and chamber but with the LS9 casting and seats/guides.
Not sure if this is where the beryllium part comes from but if you don't use the OEM LS7/LS9 parts that are designed for titanium valves then you would usually need to change to beryllium when using titanium valves. When we have converted SBC and LT5 heads to titanium valves we normally use beryllium as this is what most of the titanium valve (Del West etc.) and valve coating manufacturers recommend.
We normally only switch to Inconel exhaust valves on turbocharged and supercharged engine applications.
The OEM GM powdered metal guides and seats are compatible with Inconel valves. GM uses Inconel valves (or a similar high nickel content high temperature valve material) in some of the truck engine applications that use the same seat and guide material as the LS3 cylinder heads.
For durability the LS3 guides are not compatible with the coating on the OEM and most aftermarket/racing titanium valves but the LS7/LS9 guide material is compatible with the coating. For applications that want to use titanium valves in an LS3 style cylinder head we use the LS9 castings and then put our LS3 CNC program into the LS9 head, making it effectively an LS3 runner and chamber but with the LS9 casting and seats/guides.
Not sure if this is where the beryllium part comes from but if you don't use the OEM LS7/LS9 parts that are designed for titanium valves then you would usually need to change to beryllium when using titanium valves. When we have converted SBC and LT5 heads to titanium valves we normally use beryllium as this is what most of the titanium valve (Del West etc.) and valve coating manufacturers recommend.
I also plan to upgrade the factory rocker arm bearing assemblies... Am I missing anything?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 238
Likes: 10
From: dallas TX
Thanks. I looked at TEA flows advertised. TEA has the highest exhaust flow I have seen. I wonder if they are using the same methods to measure? Too bad they are so expensive.
Last edited by kfede1; Jul 25, 2015 at 05:25 PM.
Pro
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 611
Likes: 3
From: Milwaukee WI
St. Jude Donor '13
LS3 Valves.. Are they durable enough?
[quote=kfede1
I also plan to upgrade the factory rocker arm bearing assemblies... [/quote]
I did the comp cam trunion upgrade then found out afterward some people were having failures with the upgrade coming apart. Whether it was install error or issues with the trunion kit itself, is open to debate.
I pulled them out and went with CHE rockers from WCCH for piece of mind. They spin test those to 10,000 rpm. I couldn't find any failures on the web with the CHE's fwiw. Brian tooley also offers a trunion upgrade kit for the oem rockers. Che rockers are 600ish for their modified new oem rockers. They should be able to modify your used ones as well. My car has 89k on it so it was cheap insurance to just buy a new set.
I also plan to upgrade the factory rocker arm bearing assemblies... [/quote]
I did the comp cam trunion upgrade then found out afterward some people were having failures with the upgrade coming apart. Whether it was install error or issues with the trunion kit itself, is open to debate.
I pulled them out and went with CHE rockers from WCCH for piece of mind. They spin test those to 10,000 rpm. I couldn't find any failures on the web with the CHE's fwiw. Brian tooley also offers a trunion upgrade kit for the oem rockers. Che rockers are 600ish for their modified new oem rockers. They should be able to modify your used ones as well. My car has 89k on it so it was cheap insurance to just buy a new set.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 238
Likes: 10
From: dallas TX
I did the comp cam trunion upgrade then found out afterward some people were having failures with the upgrade coming apart. Whether it was install error or issues with the trunion kit itself, is open to debate.
I pulled them out and went with CHE rockers from WCCH for piece of mind. They spin test those to 10,000 rpm. I couldn't find any failures on the web with the CHE's fwiw. Brian tooley also offers a trunion upgrade kit for the oem rockers. Che rockers are 600ish for their modified new oem rockers. They should be able to modify your used ones as well. My car has 89k on it so it was cheap insurance to just buy a new set.
I pulled them out and went with CHE rockers from WCCH for piece of mind. They spin test those to 10,000 rpm. I couldn't find any failures on the web with the CHE's fwiw. Brian tooley also offers a trunion upgrade kit for the oem rockers. Che rockers are 600ish for their modified new oem rockers. They should be able to modify your used ones as well. My car has 89k on it so it was cheap insurance to just buy a new set.
Pro
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 611
Likes: 3
From: Milwaukee WI
St. Jude Donor '13
LS3 Valves.. Are they durable enough?
Glad to offer my 2 cents. Sometimes I can be a bit neurotic when it comes to mods and reliability. I'm a paraplegic so if my motor pops, it's a little more of an inconvenience since I can't just pop into the passenger seat of a tow truck. Or even pulling to side of a busy road to fold my wheelchair to get out can be more hazardous than a normal Joe blow. 