Valve questions

Any suggestions on who has the best titanium valves ? Running Brad stage VI heads and been using Manton lash locks. Just broke valve under valve lock. And whats better radial groove or standard chevy groove. Thanks for any info.

 

The standard grove is why the valve broke under the lock,with the manthon lash caps they squeeze the valve till it snaps the tip off, the radial groove valve and lash cap are the cure for that problem,or go back to the reg. keepers and the old stile lash caps.

 

I agree with gene, the one piece lash lock has been a big problem, with alot of guys breaking the tips off the valves(including us) resulting in catastropic engine failure. Many factors affect the life of the valves, locks, retainers, the two biggest problems being the valve spring not being able to control the valve, and detonation. Many times it is actually the pushrods flexing, creating harmonics and the resulting loss of spring control, which severely abuses the locks and the lock groove.The stiffer the pushrod, the better the valve train stability. Noel Manton can explain to you in great detail why he has so many different styles of pushrods, depending on your application. Detonation also plays hell with the locks/grooves/retainers. I have seen locks pulled through the retainers because of severe detonation. As for the groove style to choose from, the is no comparison whatsoever from the old style square groove to the newer "beadlock" or radius groove valves. The radius grooves valves will outlast the old style by a mile. I have seen engines go through severe detonation, melting pistons, and the radius groove parts are not hurt at all. With square groove locks, the locks and the valve will be junk every single time, the lock groove in the valve being all tore up and unuseable. As Gene said, the best combination for us has been the radius groove locks and separate lash caps, not the one piece style. The Victory valves hold up very well, and they can assist you with locks and retainer styles and heights. Good luck.....