Valve keeper drawings.

[JKart]

Merry Christmas to everyone! (the order of the days!)

On the technical side, I'd like to know where in the web I can find actual drawings for valve keepers. I'm building an Alfa Romeo V6 engine as subject of a book I'm writing and in the area of valve spring installed height and valve lift with proprietary valves,when trying out different combinations of keepers and retainers (single/triple groove)I noticed that the interference angles are different (for the same 8mm stem diameter). I would assume that these angles are industry-standard - are they? My observation so far is that all single-groove keepers have one angle and 3-groove ones another, which of course also differentiates retainers.
Regards,
Jim K.

 

[EHudson]

Milwaukee Wire Products, (414) 365-5000 is a manufacturer of valve keepers. You might try calling them.

Some keepers are designed to clamp onto the stem and some are designed to clamp around the stem and still permit some rotation. The latter type is usually a three groove design. Put a pair of keepers on the valve stem and see if the keepers touch together and allow motion or if there is a gap between one or both ends of the keepers when they are clamped onto the stem with finger pressure.

Good luck with the book.

 

[JKart]

Thanks for the tip, EHudson!
As far as 'loose' and 'tight' keepers go, since this is a hi-perf/light track duty engine, one of the valvetrain jobs is to make sure the keepers clamp the valve tight so it doesn't rotate (accomplished by keeper sanding on a flat surface, until their ends don't butt any more). Rotation is supposedly desirable for seat 'cleaning' in road engines but 'loose' valves are not an accepted practice in performance situations.
Regards,
Jim K.

 

[franzh]

I am a strong believer in not re-inventing the wheel. There are a number of reputable valvetrain manufacturers who make a total package and have probably spent more on R&D than many folks spend on an entire engine project. I once had a contract to develop valve seals for a specialty engine, and when I recommended the client purchase an adaptable commercial valve seal for about $3.00 each, he declined and wanted me to build them, at about $60.00 each!
Go figger.

I would assume that whatever engine you have, a cam and valvetrain maker has a combination ready to drop in and work perfectly the first time.
Franz

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[JKart]

I wish it were that simple Franz, I want no part of re-inventing anything! There are several retainer designs commercially available but only a few will satisfy the combination I want: certain installed height for springs, allowance for 13mm travel before contacting seal and room (topside) for the std Alfa valve adjusting shim. I wish someone had done this before, but I'm afraid this the first time for this engine. BTW, the cam is directly over the valve (working through flat bucket followers), so you can see that valve length is set and everything else is derived working from there. In these last few days I have found a solution with widely available parts (Christmas Spirit??!!) Thanks for the pointers.
Regards,
Jim K.