Bee Hive valve springs
- Thread starter Stude58
- Start date
I have been using Beehive springs for the last 10 years. 7000 rpm at times. Mid 11:00 sec engine.
I'm working with Carl McQuillian for a set of beehive springs for my 817 heads as we speak.I'm going hyd.roller on this engine as well.I think that they would be better for those who are running flat tappet cams be cause they don't need as much seat and open pressure,there fore put less pressure on the cam/lifters,as well as the rest of the valve train.Less pressure = lower friction,longer life.
I didn't find any that would work for the solid roller I have.
I know Carl is setting my engine up with bee hive springs from pac. I don’t know the part number off the top of my head but he said they were perfect to run with my .669/.669 253/261 @.050 hydraulic roller.
Greg Reimer
Well Known Member
One nice side effect of the beehive spring is that the steel retainer is smaller in diameter and therefore is lighter, so there's less unnecessary metal going for a ride on top of your valve spring. That takes some load off the entire valve train. In NHRA Stock Eliminator, practically everybody use them and we use 10 degree valve locks. We use spring pressures that aren't found on the street, most of our spring pressures on a small block are around 180-200 on the seat with 360-400 over the nose. We're restricted in cam lift by class rules, but these engines will turn higher than we need them to with that set up. Lighter and stronger is always better.
Greg Reimer
Well Known Member
Seems to me that the Pac valve spring part # for the small block is 1409X. The 817 head could probably use these as a drop in,but check your spring pressures at the proper installed height. Also,don't use that much spring pressure on a driver motor or even a bracket race motor. That much spring pressure would probably flatten the cam almost as fast as you could get the engine started. Use 100-120 on the seat and 260-275 wide open. The 690-583 casting head would use a big block spring. In the event of too much spring pressure at the OEM installed height, PAC might have a retainer that has more available installed height. Almost all cam companies have a sharp tech department to steer people away from problems with their product,because bad luck with a product results in bad word of mouth regarding its reputation. They don't want that
Greg Reimer
Well Known Member
A nice thing about beehive springs, like the ones sold by PAC, is that the smaller diameter spring retainer allows for more clearance between the retainer and spring and whatever rocker arm you choose to use. Constant evolution of technology.
They would give more clearance between the rocker fulcrum on the intake rocker.
