Beehive vs Reg. valve spring video

[jp_grasshopper_007]

http://www.compcams.com/Base/MultiMedia/Products/BeehiveVsStandard_Hi-Res.wmv

Check out this video. You will be suprised. Comps version of GM's kickass idea.

[SappySE107]

Thats wicked. Attn gen 2 owners...your springs suck! haha, what else is new:P I wonder how many TGP owners have the straight springs.

[jp_grasshopper_007]

I'm sure to many

[geoffinbc]

Wow thats freaking crazy. I never knew the spring rotated like that.

[firechiken]

Holy crap! Could you call that valve float?

[Mars]

That's crazy. Hopefully my nice yellow LS6 springs don't do that.

[Lyle's GTP]

LQ1 valve springs rock. That's really cool.

Lyle

[robby1870]

Wow, that was a cool video

[kprofthestrs]

i guess i know what i am going to install in my 3400!

[geoffinbc]

We put Crane springs in my buddies 4.3L. I showed him that vid and hes swaping them out ASAP for my bros Comp setup on his 4.3L

[smilinguy99]

Uh, hold on here. True, beehive springs do exhibit different harmonic characteristics than straight springs. Does that make them better? Not necessarily. All springs (or for that matter, all things) have a natural frequency where they will sympatetically vibrate.

They chose to test these springs at 5200 RPM. Why? I suspect that was the speed that operated the straight spring at its natural frequency. Notice the beehive spring still resonated the middle portion where the diameter was like the straight spring. If the take away message that you get from this video is that you should buy beehives from CompCams for every single application, then sometimes you will be right and sometimes you'll be wrong.

The upper portion of the beehive will resonate too, and likely at a higher speed where the valve speeds are higher and require more control.

What is the cure here? Using more springs is one cure. A triple will have three springs that resonate at different frequencies. Each covering for the others when one of the others goes all wonky. In essence, that's what a beehive is: multiple springs all in one winding. A triple will have more pressure as well.

Using more spring pressure will shift the NF upward. And if there is enough pressure the NF will occur at a speed where your motor ain't goin' anyway, thus making harmonics a non-issue. With beehives this may not be an option. None of the beehives have enough pressure to deal with the lift rates of high-lift rollers.

Alas, a triple isn't always an option either, and due to space and availability sometimes neither is more pressure. Unless I gotta, I ain't going to use beehives

[geoffinbc]

But a Beehive shape spring does not have a constant spring rate or a constant resonant frequency because of its shape. The smaller diameter coil windings at the top will have a different frequency then the larger diameter windings at the bottom. Also the coil windings have different spacing from top to bottom. All this adds up to a spring that helps to remove or reduce its own harmonics.

It has been shown countless times these springs do the job well. They are of course limited to the amount of presure they can have because you cannot double them up. But if you can use one spring instead or two then you are going to reduce the amount of heat the valvetrain makes. And valve springs create a tremendous amount of heat.

[jp_grasshopper_007]

None of the beehives have enough pressure to deal with the lift rates of high-lift rollers.

What kind of cams are you talking about? Solid roller?

All of the beehives that Comp offers can handle .500+ lift. Some can go .600 lift all before bind.

Over 100 pds. closed and @ 300 pds. open is more than adequate for any hydraulic roller. Now if you are talking V8 solid roller then these wouldn't cut it. Spring pressure on a solid roller is limited to other components in the valvetrain.

[SappySE107]

For our applications (hence the site name), beehive springs are going to be the best bet for 99% of applications. Im not sure how much force the aluminum heads can handle from valve springs, but I don't believe any more than 350# is going to be needed short of a .600" + lift and a large amount of intake pressure. If the ramp up/down rate of the lobes are that excessive, you better have a race only type setup. Not feasible for street machines or people that can't afford to rebuild their motor every race season:P

Everything else has already been stated, from resonate frequencies to heat generated so its up to you to decide what you put in your motor. The benefit to the comp springs over the GM springs is their ovate wire vs round. If your sure the RF is beyond the RPM you will be running, there is no reason to panic. The video is just a demonstration.

[Husky]

So... do they make them for the LQ1?