Valve spring replacement on C7 Z
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From: Eastern Pa
Valve spring replacement on C7 Z
Okay guys I have a BTR stage 2 cam and I'm looking to check and replace my valve springs this winter. I have about 15,000 miles on them so I'm wondering has anyone done this, also what are the tools needed to get this job done? I've done this job before on my old 900hp big block Chevy drag car multiple times, I'm just not sure if the tools I have will work on my Z. Any information and part numbers on tools will be greatly appreciated. My car put down 710 horsepower to the wheel & 750 foot pounds of torque. I do track this car pretty heavily, I've also been 178 miles an hour up at Pocono Raceway🏁 thanks again for any info👍
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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You’ll need a specific valve spring compressor - http://bluegrassperformance.com/blue...-tool-gen-5-v/
and if your planning to replace them on the car without pulling the heads, you’ll need an air compressor chuck that has spark plug threads on it to pressurize the chamber.
and if your planning to replace them on the car without pulling the heads, you’ll need an air compressor chuck that has spark plug threads on it to pressurize the chamber.
Last edited by FYREANT; Oct 20, 2019 at 11:16 AM.
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Okay great just ordered it! I do have the air compressor hose to fill the cylinder with air. On my old big block Chevy it was a single spring compressor tool and I always took the pressure off of the Spring that I was working on by turning the motor over , I'm guessing with this LT 4 spring tool there's no need to do that? Thanks for your help, i appreciate it 👍
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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Okay great just ordered it! I do have the air compressor hose to fill the cylinder with air. On my old big block Chevy it was a single spring compressor tool and I always took the pressure off of the Spring that I was working on by turning the motor over , I'm guessing with this LT 4 spring tool there's no need to do that? Thanks for your help, i appreciate it 👍
Last edited by FYREANT; Oct 20, 2019 at 11:52 AM.
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Yes 10-4 on blocking all the oil holes so nothing falls into the motor! I also tap the top of the springs with a rubber mallet after the install to make sure everything is where it needs to be 👍 okay so I'm not familiar with this motor so there's no need to adjust valve lash after the Springs are done? There's some kind of valve stem cap instead of making an adjustment like on the old big block Chevy engines?
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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Yes 10-4 on blocking all the oil holes so nothing falls into the motor! I also tap the top of the springs with a rubber mallet after the install to make sure everything is where it needs to be 👍 okay so I'm not familiar with this motor so there's no need to adjust valve lash after the Springs are done? There's some kind of valve stem cap instead of making an adjustment like on the old big block Chevy engines?
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Okay cool yeah definitely take pressure off make sure they're at rest then do the valve spring compression makes sense and that's how I always did it on my old motors with the single valve spring tool. The BTR stage 2 cam install is done before I bought the car, there is now 12,000 miles on the springs. What about the lifters? Did you upgrade yours, are the factory ones a roller lifter? Any idea how long the factory lifters good for before you should replace them?
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Okay cool yeah definitely take pressure off make sure they're at rest then do the valve spring compression makes sense and that's how I always did it on my old motors with the single valve spring tool. The BTR stage 2 cam install is done before I bought the car, there is now 12,000 miles on the springs. What about the lifters? Did you upgrade yours, are the factory ones a roller lifter? Any idea how long the factory lifters good for before you should replace them?
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I'm Batman..
Joined: Apr 2014
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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Okay cool yeah definitely take pressure off make sure they're at rest then do the valve spring compression makes sense and that's how I always did it on my old motors with the single valve spring tool. The BTR stage 2 cam install is done before I bought the car, there is now 12,000 miles on the springs. What about the lifters? Did you upgrade yours, are the factory ones a roller lifter? Any idea how long the factory lifters good for before you should replace them?
Correct. That would require head removal and at that point doing the springs is a lot easier lol
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Okay cool, how many miles do think the factory roller lifters are good for? I do at least 10 track days a season when the weather is good over here in North East Pa, and I am turning the motor to 6,500 rpm pretty regularly! 🏁 thanks again for your help and info! I'll definitely be doing my own maintenance for sure! For me, this ZO6 at this power level is an awesome Track-Machine! My buddy has a 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 that I can hang with in the turns, and I love having the power to pass/pull him on the Straits 🏁
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Okay I just found some paperwork saying that he paid 1400 bucks for lifters , truinans, lash cap, pushrods Springs, cam Kit, and DOD delete. The entire job he paid 3,700 for the cam install. I did not see the name of the lifter, does BTR stage2 have a certain brand lifter in his Cam Kit ?
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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Okay I just found some paperwork saying that he paid 1400 bucks for lifters , truinans, lash cap, pushrods Springs, cam Kit, and DOD delete. The entire job he paid 3,700 for the cam install. I did not see the name of the lifter, does BTR stage2 have a certain brand lifter in his Cam Kit ?
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From: Lehigh Acres FL
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I’m not sure lifters have to be changed out at specific intervals. Valve springs, yes. Lifters I think are generally good for quite a while. To my knowledge you would only replace them when you believe a lifter to be ticking or if one has failed. I don’t believe they have an “interval” like springs do. Though I could be wrong
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From: Eastern Pa
On my drag car I change my valve springs every 250 passes, and the lifters every 600 passes, ( well now I had the big 903 lifters installed and they're good for a 1,000 passes) to make sure I do not have any failures. So on this cammed ZO6 I'm doing the valve springs 20 to 25,000 miles, so that tells me I should probably do the lifters every 50 or 60 thousand miles just to be safe. Again, I do run my car pretty hard at high RPM for extended periods of time just like my drag car. Thanks again✌
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 732
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From: Eastern Pa
On my drag car I change my valve springs every 250 passes, and the lifters every 600 passes, ( well now I had the big 903 lifters installed and they're good for a 1,000 passes) to make sure I do not have any failures. So on this cammed ZO6 I'm doing the valve springs 20 to 25,000 miles, so that tells me I should probably do the lifters every 50 or 60 thousand miles just to be safe. Again, I do run my car pretty hard at high RPM for extended periods of time just like my drag car. Thanks again✌
I'm Batman..
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 6,142
Likes: 921
From: Lehigh Acres FL
Tech Contributor
On my drag car I change my valve springs every 250 passes, and the lifters every 600 passes, ( well now I had the big 903 lifters installed and they're good for a 1,000 passes) to make sure I do not have any failures. So on this cammed ZO6 I'm doing the valve springs 20 to 25,000 miles, so that tells me I should probably do the lifters every 50 or 60 thousand miles just to be safe. Again, I do run my car pretty hard at high RPM for extended periods of time just like my drag car. Thanks again✌
I'm Batman..
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 6,142
Likes: 921
From: Lehigh Acres FL
Tech Contributor