LS1_Disciple
02-17-2004, 01:49 AM
Well, I posted this back in July 03 on the "other" site and felt it was too good to go to waste, so here it is.
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Just finished this last Friday. I installed the SLP 1.85 Rockers, Manley NexTek valve springs, and titanium retainers. I re-used the stock keepers (except 1, more on this later). Just thought I would share my thoughts with about 70 miles on the car.
Install was fairly straightforward. I had nightmares of valves dropping and burning oil and such, but I was pleasantly surprised. I used an air compressor, and the air holds had no issues with clearance on any of the plugs. Mine is an 02, so #8 was accessed from the bottom.
There were 2 of us doing this, which helped out greatly. I was the spring compressor/remover, and my dad was the keeper remover/installer. By the time we had done all 16, we were pretty quick and didn't leave much time where the valves were springless.
I used the compressor that SLP sells, but it works like most any screw-on type compressor you'd find at an auto parts store. You can remove the handle from the top and use a wrench, which came in very handy on #s 6, 7, and 8. We used a box-end wrench with a rachet in the box end to do this. It worked very well, as I'm not sure a conventional socket wrench would have enough clearance under the cowl.
Definitely buy some extra keepers from the dealer. I bought 10 extras in case we lost one. I believe they were like $.70 each. This came in very handy when we lost the VERY LAST keeper somewhere down in the engine bay. Since we were sure it didn't go into the head, we just grabbed a new one and kept going. We later found it down by one of the motor mounts. I also bought some extra A.I.R. tube gaskets, which I didn't end up using since the originals didn't look that bad (9500 miles).
My impressions after driving a while: There is a little more valvetrain clatter on initial start-up, and it's really only noticeable with the hood up. It's not enough that a non-gearhead would even notice. Once the car is warmed up, I can't even tell a difference (not to say that some of you wouldn't ). I have the SLP dual/dual and it definitely changed the exhaust note. After extensively reviewing before/after video, I'd say the exhaust is a little more exotic/European sounding. My wife even said, "It sounds like a Lotus."
I haven't had it up to redline yet, as I'm trying to be easy on her for 100 miles or so, but after a few 4k runs, I think I can tell a difference. Hard to say without some WOT runs. Hopefully I can get some new dyno numbers next month.
Oops, I forgot the most important part - thanks to XTrooper for letting me pick his brain and offering advice before I attempted this install. Definitely a great help to anyone needing advice about this
Oh yes, and if anyone didn't already know, catalytic converters get REALLY HOT! Even with only running the car for about 5 minutes to get to the lift, the cat was still hot after about an hour of sitting. I got what looks to be a second-degree burn on my forearm while trying to get the #8 plug wire off. Small price to pay for more HP and besides, skin grows back
Also, for anyone that cares, it took us right at 7 hours including a 20 minute lunch break and fighting with the "quick disconnect" fuel line for about 30. Never did get the fuel line disconnected, but we just worked around it. So that's about 6 hours for 2 guys that have never done this. Not bad at all.
Sorry for the book, but I tried to cover everything. If you've got any questions, fire away
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Just finished this last Friday. I installed the SLP 1.85 Rockers, Manley NexTek valve springs, and titanium retainers. I re-used the stock keepers (except 1, more on this later). Just thought I would share my thoughts with about 70 miles on the car.
Install was fairly straightforward. I had nightmares of valves dropping and burning oil and such, but I was pleasantly surprised. I used an air compressor, and the air holds had no issues with clearance on any of the plugs. Mine is an 02, so #8 was accessed from the bottom.
There were 2 of us doing this, which helped out greatly. I was the spring compressor/remover, and my dad was the keeper remover/installer. By the time we had done all 16, we were pretty quick and didn't leave much time where the valves were springless.
I used the compressor that SLP sells, but it works like most any screw-on type compressor you'd find at an auto parts store. You can remove the handle from the top and use a wrench, which came in very handy on #s 6, 7, and 8. We used a box-end wrench with a rachet in the box end to do this. It worked very well, as I'm not sure a conventional socket wrench would have enough clearance under the cowl.
Definitely buy some extra keepers from the dealer. I bought 10 extras in case we lost one. I believe they were like $.70 each. This came in very handy when we lost the VERY LAST keeper somewhere down in the engine bay. Since we were sure it didn't go into the head, we just grabbed a new one and kept going. We later found it down by one of the motor mounts. I also bought some extra A.I.R. tube gaskets, which I didn't end up using since the originals didn't look that bad (9500 miles).
My impressions after driving a while: There is a little more valvetrain clatter on initial start-up, and it's really only noticeable with the hood up. It's not enough that a non-gearhead would even notice. Once the car is warmed up, I can't even tell a difference (not to say that some of you wouldn't ). I have the SLP dual/dual and it definitely changed the exhaust note. After extensively reviewing before/after video, I'd say the exhaust is a little more exotic/European sounding. My wife even said, "It sounds like a Lotus."
I haven't had it up to redline yet, as I'm trying to be easy on her for 100 miles or so, but after a few 4k runs, I think I can tell a difference. Hard to say without some WOT runs. Hopefully I can get some new dyno numbers next month.
Oops, I forgot the most important part - thanks to XTrooper for letting me pick his brain and offering advice before I attempted this install. Definitely a great help to anyone needing advice about this
Oh yes, and if anyone didn't already know, catalytic converters get REALLY HOT! Even with only running the car for about 5 minutes to get to the lift, the cat was still hot after about an hour of sitting. I got what looks to be a second-degree burn on my forearm while trying to get the #8 plug wire off. Small price to pay for more HP and besides, skin grows back
Also, for anyone that cares, it took us right at 7 hours including a 20 minute lunch break and fighting with the "quick disconnect" fuel line for about 30. Never did get the fuel line disconnected, but we just worked around it. So that's about 6 hours for 2 guys that have never done this. Not bad at all.
Sorry for the book, but I tried to cover everything. If you've got any questions, fire away
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