This was with retainers with dimensions matched to part number of reccomended retainer.
"Titanium is the lightest option when you are looking for valve spring retainers, but it is a softer metal than steel so it can gall up over time. This can especially happen where the retainer contacts the steel valve locks. Titanium has good shear strength, so it can hold up to a strong valve spring, but because it is softer it can gall up and cause problems.

“Tool steel retainers are a good option,” he continues. “In fact, they are probably my favorite option."
http://www.powerperformancenews.com/...le-valvetrain/

"Besides the tendency to gall in the areas where titanium mates against steel, Bechtloff also cautions that titanium retainers should not be used with a very specific type of spring. “If you have a double nested valve spring with a damper coil in between them, that damper coil is a flat wire wound vertically. That creates an edge that can chew into the titanium retainer and cause it to fail over time. Titanium retainers and valve springs that use a damper really aren’t compatible.”

I had similar issues, but with the steel retainers and locators. The springs were digging into the steel. I would have very fine metal shavings, sitting in the pockets of the heads where the oil pools. It had me scratching my head until I started investigating.

What I found, was the machine shop who assembled my stuff, was using the incorrect size hardware. If you have say, a .740 ID inner spring, you don't want to use a locator, that has a shoulder diameter of .680. Same goes for the retainers. The stuff has to be a fairly tight fit. Might work fine for a car, that doesn't see constant high rpm, but in a boat, the springs will move around if you let them. Plus, they also set the springs up , about .260 away from coil bind. They got the pressures right, but the spring was simply the wrong spring for the application. So, what you have, is a spring that is way too tall, and hardware thats a loose fit, and the springs are walking around eating chit up.

When you page thru catalogs from comp, crane, manley, lunati, howards, isky, there's tons of different measurments of locators/cups/retainers, plus all the various spring packages out there. I just went thru helping a buddy order all that stuff for his heads, if you want a really nice fit, sometimes you have to mix and match brands to get there.

Most of all the spring catalogs I have here, do show Ti retainers as an option on their dual spring with damper springs. I've never ran titanium retainers, but I have a couple friends who have. I don't know if they've ever had wear issues though.

Ti retainers getting chewed up by dampners is a common problem, i seen it a couple times and like i said, got away from it, even with correctly sized retainers, valve spring .060 to .080 from stack it still happened. My machinist pulled out a coffee can full of chewed up ti retainers off other peoples motors when he was preaching to me NOT to run that combo, ti is soft, sharp edges dig into it, no way around it. Are there "better" grades of ti, i think so but stuff got stupid expensive and still has much shorter life cycle than steel. I think the isky tool room springs i been running dont have them dampers either.
Your not prob old enough to remember but in the 70s there was alot of trick of the week hot rod parts, aluminum valve spring retainers was one of them, imagine that crap!! With all that metal going thru the oil no wonder they had to pin rod bearings!!

So Tim, this is where you phucked up...

You should have gotten your heads from a real professional speed shop...


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We have had good luck with super 7 lightweight coated titanium retainers and titanium locks.

I sold my TI retainers and now have tool steel.
The guy who helps me with my stuff maintains a midget car program. I was there the other day and he was showing me some Ti retainers that were like razor blades on the edges due to wear. They switched to tool steel in that application.
On a side note, I sold my TI intake valves as we'll. I'm not running a maximum effort engine and the reliability was more important than making max power

This is a good read if you want to familiarize yourself on conical springs.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/eng...ind-the-coils/

All those years of experience and knowledge you can't go wrong. ... and the price don't even get me started I bet you could get at least a nother 10% or more off.just ask the guy at the game and phone counter for the discount and witch ones would be better for your motors. He sould know

??