[NickyRacerBoy]

Originally Posted by Calubi

For peace of mind, it sounds like the best course of action, without going crazy, is:

1. Pull the valve covers
2. Remove the rockers
3. Carefully inspect the springs, without removing them, and check for cracks
4. Pull the pushrods and check if any are bent
5. Put it all back together

And on the next oil change, send a sample to Blackstone. What would I be looking for in the results? Signs of metal?

100%

[oldman]

Over the years of racing, all my engine failures have been valvetrain. On a mechanical over-rev I would change all valves. A mildly bent valve is a weak valve and you need only one to history the engine, stock valves, in general, are not known to be strong. Just me.

Also IMO there is no reason to use no lift shift from 4th. You gain nothing in terms of ET. 1st to second, maybe 2nd to 3rd.

[Calubi]

Originally Posted by oldman

Over the years of racing, all my engine failures have been valvetrain. On a mechanical over-rev I would change all valves. A mildly bent valve is a weak valve and you need only one to history the engine, stock valves, in general, are not known to be strong. Just me.

So you're saying this is a good excuse to port the heads and swap to a more robust valvetrain?

Originally Posted by oldman

Also IMO there is no reason to use no lift shift from 4th. You gain nothing in terms of ET. 1st to second, maybe 2nd to 3rd.

This was on a road course. I was playing around with NLS all day, to see how I like it.

[Boost Creep]

Originally Posted by Calubi

So you're saying this is a good excuse to port the heads and swap to a more robust valvetrain?

Perfect excuse to improve the top end of the engine.

[oldman]

Originally Posted by Calubi

So you're saying this is a good excuse to port the heads and swap to a more robust valvetrain?

, hit up Pray... well wroth it. Heads are candy on this engine.

[oldman]

NLS, 1 to 2 all good, 2 to 3 is iffy, 3 to 4 no issues really, the rest for sure are NOT needed because the speed is already enough not to need any potential ET gain. Now rev match really works, and makes you a heel toe king....

[Calubi]

Does the LT1 still require rockers to be torqued down with the valves closed (cam at base circle)?

I'm reading up on proper techniques for removing/installing rockers, but most of what I'm seeing is for older engines that require rocker adjustment, while our rockers just have a fixed torque spec.

Does this mean the EOIC method is not (fully) needed? Can we just torque down the rockers any where the valve is closed?

(Sorry for the basic questions, I'm still learning!)

[oldman]

valves should be closed. I don't know if it is "required", the bolt is quite long. The new trunions come with new bolts. FWIW, the stock bolts should not be used with ported heads, they do cause enough stress to flake away a little shard on some ports (intake). Just change the trunions at the same time with new shorter bolts.

[6spdhyperblue]

I always liked torquing them down on the base circle despite what it says.

It would be a good time to do these if you were interested l
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552744

[JCunningham]

Originally Posted by SSDan

I dont remember exactly but its in the 6600-6700 range..

6700

[Calubi]

Finally pulled the valve covers today. I was pleasantly surprised with how accessible they were. I was scared that some of the rear bolts would be hard to reach under the dash, but nothing a swivel socket couldn't take care of. Getting the black plastic covers off was the most annoying part, by far. They kept getting stuck between the rear coil packs and the black metal bars that run from the side of the engine compartment to the firewall. I'm not sure what those metal bars are for, but they look structural?

Anyway, everything looks okay. I didn't see any obvious signs of spring damage. I turned the engine over by hand a few times. Put it all back together and went for a test drive, sounds and drives like it always has.

By the way, is it normal for dirty oil to pool by the valve seals? I would guess so, since I don't see how it could entirely drain. Everything was coated in a layer of clear new oil (just changed the oil before the track weekend), except for the valve seals which had dirty oil pooled by them.

[6spdhyperblue]

Glad to see everything’s in order. the engines in these cars are pretty enjoyable to work on. Once all the plastic is removed it gets pretty roomy.
4th gens were halfway under the dash and much more annoying.

[avalonandl]

Compression check would find a bent valve if there is one. My GUESS is you lucked out.

[Tim M]

I'm no engine expert, but over rev / valve float can also be an incremental damage. If you experienced valve float/crash, the spring pressure degrades. Next time the valve spring goes into valve crash at a lower rpm, etc.

Hitting 7500 rpm, no doubt went into valve float/crash. OEM's use valve springs that are just enough pressure to increase mileage - I'd expect the LT1 to be similar build. Will it ever surface in the future - who knows - likely depends on how many times you exceed 6500 rpm.

Also mention that road course work is far more demanding than drag runs where you are in that 'red' zone for fractions of a second vice letting it rev extended for that next corner lap after lap.

I'm considering a change of valve springs as a matter of maintenance (ie. every 10K to 15K miles, etc).

Hope that helps.