Nuclear427

Del

MTPZ06

Wow, thanks for sharing! Looks like all the issues are where the valve contacts the seat.
My only recommendation...keep the valves light like you originally intended, and go with the Ferrea F2042p one piece hollow stem ex valves versus solid stainless stems.

BigVette427

That's a big cam (.660" lift) for the 1511's, which say they are rated .625" lift, (on a 1.7 ratio rocker, I presume?) Maybe go with the PSI 1515's, instead?

MTPZ06

I think Katech still prefer's the 1511's over the 1515's for their cams.

FNBADAZ06

They do, and it was the combo of 1511 and K501 cam that was part of the Spintron testing done a few years back and proved to be a great combo

I run that combo on my E85 car with OEM valves and 12.0:1 compression.

nuke61

Bounce, and burn? Are those OEM exhaust valves?

MTPZ06

And I think that's their stance...if ain't broke, don't fix it.

No...OP dropped $1500 on the Katech Ti intake/exhaust valves. Unless he didn't get what he paid for somehow.

Les

That's really interesting. I wonder what their thinking is on that. I'm not running a Katech cam, so my situation is different. Geoff at EPS and Kohle at AHP recommended 1515's for my cam with the intake lift of .639 in mind, so I'm wondering if there's an actual downside to running 1515's with the Katech cams.

nuke61

Yikes

lbzraptor

I thought Katech used the factory sodium exhaust valves even when sent to WCCH unless the customer requested something different.

FNBADAZ06

Correct. They offered the titanium exhaust valves for those who wanted them, but they use OEM valves unless otherwise requested.

NVA2010

Rocker ratio doesn't play a part in the max lift rating of the springs.

I agree though, that cam is a bit too high in lift, at least within my comfort zone, for the 1511's. They'd leave you with only .043" Int / .040" Exh from coil bind. The 1515's OTOH would be .068" Int / .065" Exh from bind.

Hopefully we can find out what's going on though. This is the first reported incident I can recall regarding anything strange happening to Katech's valves.

MTPZ06

I believe Jason was on here once and mentioned that their cam(s)/1511 spring combo is proven (spintron tested), so why change it. I'm sure the 1515 spring is every bit as good as the 1511, I just take it as they didn't want to bother going through all the testing again if they already have a proven combo.

BigVette427

I believe AHP uses/recommends the 1511's with their AHP 116 cams which have a max lift just under .650". Too much seat pressure is a concern with using the 1515"s on the OE cam. I decided to go with a cam with a max lift of .635" and Kohle suggested that the 1511's would be ideal.

stefuel

"30k miles of hard driving and 158 half mile passes." and you expected to see what when opened up??? I think you are getting off easy

Les

Geoff specifically steered me to the 1515's when I asked about using the 1511's. I actually inquired about excessive pressure and he said that wouldn't be a problem. Kohle said he's used them both and hasn't had any issues. Bottom line, whatever cam I got I would have followed the recommendation of the cam maker.
That thought had crossed my mind too. Still, I'd be curious to see what the seats looked like.

Nuclear427

-I was using the Katech/Exceldyne Ti/Moly Intake/Exhaust Valves

-I was using 1511 springs per Katech's recommendation

-Nothing had actually failed yet, but left unchecked, who knows what would have happen in the future.

-I never over revved the engine or down shifted into the wrong gear

-Katech and WCCH disagree on several aspects of Head/Valve Train setups

-Katech has customers running several hundred track miles a year at HPDE's with no issues

-The K501 cam specs are 235 / 251 @ .050, . 657/ .660 lift, 113 LSA

Not sure what the root cause is...WCCH does not know either

For those of you in AZ, I'll see you guys at NFZ Gila Bend and SCT PHX. I'll be on E85 with a mantic twin disk clutch and 12.2 compression.

RamAir972003

Have you notified Katech I'm sure they can help those valves shouldn't look like that or crack....

FNBADAZ06

Sweet It'll will be nice to meet you, as we run almost the same combo, as does AZDAVE427, who will be at NFZ as well

Michael_D

I did a fair amount of research into using a Ti valve on the exh several years ago….. It was not a combination I had personal experience with. After having conversations with numerous Ti valve manufactures, and hearing the same thing from each, I elected to not use them. Every single engineer I spoke with told me that if I did use a Ti valve on the exh side, that I should also use a MoldStar90 seat. The MS90 seat recommendation was IN ADDITION to valve coatings of any type. At that point I reached out to Performance Alloys (manufacturer of MS90), and spoke them about this. I was told the same thing, and that they supply seats and guides to many NASCAR teams who use Titanium valves on both the intake and exhaust. The MS90 alloy cushions the valve landing more than a typical seat alloy. Even more than Copper Berylium alloys. Because LS7 seats are so close to one another, you can’t just change one. Both will need to be changed. MS90 alloy is not cheap, and the labor/machining is not cheap. I elected to not go this route. When Katech announced their new Ti Exh valve, I was curious how well they would hold up if used on the OEM seats. Looks like we now have at least one data point, and it’s not looking favorable. But, it’s only one data point, and I would not call it conclusive. The guide measurements however, look very promising. Looks like the stem coating used has excellent compatibility with bronze guides.