valve lock wedging

[inline__engine]

if you assemble a valve with locks in the retainer in your hands and pull on it should there be a really tight wedging action so that the retainer stays in place by itself and can support its own weight?

i have some 7 degree locks and retainers and some wedge and others don't. all are 7 degree for the same valve size. these are ones where the lock butts and the valve can spin

just wondering if it matters? my guess is it doesn't

[mag2555]

Locks should only butt together vertically on one side.
The locks should grip the valve on its stem and not in the Keeper groove, once a spring load of even only 90 psi is placed on the retainer the valve should not spin.

[Schurkey]

Locks should only butt together vertically on one side.
The locks should grip the valve on its stem and not in the Keeper groove, once a spring load of even only 90 psi is placed on the retainer the valve should not spin.

Even with multi-groove keepers? I thought the whole point of those was to enable the valve to spin.

[inline__engine]

Locks should only butt together vertically on one side.
The locks should grip the valve on its stem and not in the Keeper groove, once a spring load of even only 90 psi is placed on the retainer the valve should not spin.

thats not how these work. these are a bmw triple groove and they butt so the valve spins and ive got some aftermarket retainers and locks from different manufactures to mix and match to run a different spring. they all function the same but there is different amount of wedging when you pull on them by hand

[Mummert]

if you assemble a valve with locks in the retainer in your hands and pull on it should there be a really tight wedging action so that the retainer stays in place by itself and can support its own weight?

i have some 7 degree locks and retainers and some wedge and others don't. all are 7 degree for the same valve size. these are ones where the lock butts and the valve can spin

just wondering if it matters? my guess is it doesn't

Fit matters!! On everyday average engines, junk parts wont usually fail. In racing environments they will. Many of the old school guys that knew this are long gone. Many of the companies are bringing in off shore stuff and they dont get it. Not all 7 degree stuff is the same, even though it looks like it should work. Much of the problem occurs at ID of the lock. You should be able to push one lock on a valve and it should stay on its own, if it doesn't half of your collet is junk to start with. Its important to remember that a collet is what you are making.
Try not to mix match keeper and retainer manufacturers. Short of Del West or CV Crower is one of the few companies Ive seen that still get it.
This is a MASSIVE problem in the industry right now. The induction of LS,6mm,7mm 11/32 bead lock parts has not made matters better.

[inline__engine]

turns out if i put a bit more force than i can manually it wedges. retainer is xceldyne

[mag2555]

Sorry ,I left my Crystal ball at home and as such I did not know you had triple groove keepers!