namasgt

Has anyone used or thought about using Titanium valve retainers on their engine build? They seem to be simple to have some made.

davek9

Never had an issue w/ the stock ones, is there a good reason to spend even more $ on a refresh and chance one them not working / fitting correctly?
Just asking,

Dave

69gaugeman

Why?

And yes I know the intended reasoning. Just that we are so far away from why you would need them. Nothing in our valve train is light. Any advantage could be much better spent on other areas to reduce weight. or use bigger springs or any other of a multitude of solutions.

Mike Simard

I have titanium valves, retainers and locks.
Any weight reduction on those kinds of parts is a good thing. My engine revs to 7700 rpms with mild valve springs and .500" of lift.

Using ti retainers with stock parts would not be off-the-shelf and carries risk of not mating accurately. The stock 3 groove keepers need Porsche OEM quality fits or they will break valves (as I know).
I wouldn't subsitute any single part like a keeper but would instead replace all 3 and that implies a whole new level of snowballing effort!

It's hard to keep up with Porsche quality.

Edit: I just re-read this: "They seem to be simple to have some made. "
Ugh, that sounds like famous last words to an engine and also not music to the ears of whover you ask to "have some made".

namasgt

I'm not building another engine. It's just more of a curiosity question. Some install or are developing lighter lifters, gun drilled cams, lighter flywheel, lighter rods, lighter cranks.... to make these engine rev quicker or higher. Just wanted to know if anyone has looked into it before.

namasgt

Thanks Mike.
I just thought they look simple enough to make but now that you mention the other factors in play, I can see how not so simple they can be to make.

terry gt

Yes these are TI valve spring retainers

GregBBRD

When you look at the relative weights of pieces that the cam is pushing on, the hydraulic lifter's weight is the most significant thing. Using a Titanium retainer with those fluid filled "rocks" is virtually moot, in my opinion.

When I talked about this to my friends at Del West, even they laughed, at the suggestion. The told me once I made some lightweight "solid" lifters, to then come and see them.

namasgt

Thanks for the replies, I noticed that Titanium valve retainers are available for Honda engines. They do have solid lifters.

Speedtoys

I would imaging that the higher the RPM band, the more benefit can be seen, even from small changes.

Them little honda engines are pushin factory to what, 8300rpm rev limit or so?

namasgt

Looks like Lindsey racing sells their valve springs for the 928 with Titanium retainer option....

http://www.lindseyracing.com/LR/Part...VESPRINGS.html

Bigfoot928

and why would you worry about Ti retainers since they are only available in the 16 valve engines? If you are serious about making power you would be using 32 valve heads..... its just an idea...

namasgt

It says 16 valve head so its for the 32 valve. I'm not building another engine.

Want to be

because its a 944 company using shared parts I would assume.

Mike Simard

Actually it said "8v" along with "928" on one item which implied they deal with 4 cylinders and aren't putting alot of effort into cylinder counts which are foreign to them.

I like to say 2 valve or 4 valve in general to avoid confusion, the total valve count is marketing speak.

I love titanium but would not use any non-stock retainer or keeper with a stock 928 valve, there's a real chance of failure if the fits aren't perfect.