AMC 2.0L oval port head spring pressures

[vwinnovator]

Anyone know off hand what spring pressures come "out of the box" on the AMC 2.0L oval exhaust heads?

thinking of running them with a web cam 73

too high? or to low? for that cam..

read something years ago about hyd head springs being too much for a solid lifter cam..

John sells them, any input?

[modok]

If things have not changed from how they have been in the past..........
Then the guides, springs, retainers, rocker studs are junk. They don't hold up, and should be replaced.

How strong is junk? who cares. With a web 73 it self destructs, and this has been done lots of times before.

having said that, I have some of those springs, and a spring tester.
Do you still want to know?

[vwinnovator]

sure..

how far in the past are we talking ..
a couple yes ago or a decade ago..

Wouldn't have thought that John@aircooled would be selling "junk"...

[modok]

I don't know, they don't have date codes, and the way this hobby works for all we know they could have been built 8 years before the guy finally gets his bus running. Maybe they have ten thousand in a warehouse somewhere and haven't made any in years?

I'd like to think they would get the hint eventually but the heads I fixed this year the guides were just the same and just as WIPED OUT (in a very short amount of miles) as the first set I fixed like 8 years ago.

John does a good job at what he does but I don't think he has any real control over these types of issues, no more than I do. They got me. Sold a NEW nissan head and it came back with the guides wiped out quick. They must have been made of really poor quality material, but how would you know? There is really no way to know simply looking at them. And to be honest maybe the springs and other stuff is ok, just like guys say VWs drop valves well yes, they drop valves because the guides wear out. Maybe if the guides DIDN't wear out then the other stuff would hold up, but once again it's hard to say. The fire coming up through the exhaust valve guides is not good for springs. I put em in a bag. I'll pick a non toasted one and test it tomorrow

[vwinnovator]

anyone with the spring pressure info???

any comments from John@aircooled? on these?

[modok]

Sorry I kept forgetting, but I did finally remember.

Tested two springs.
free 1.980
bind 1.020
225 LB at 1.120

That tells you all you need to know, it is a linear spring so from that you can figure spring rate and calc poundage at any height.

I do not know the installed height. I think it is a little shorter than type-1 as a rule but as you know they vary so much it's hard to have any kind of specification.

[Vanapplebomb]

Sounds right for stock. Factory spring pressure for Type 4 engines was typically measured at 29mm. Units converted to English would be 168-186 Lbs @ 1.142in. My original vw springs measured out all very close to or bang on at 186 lbs, so it would appear that they were probably new at 186 and needed to be replaced when they sacked out at 168 lbs. this is a pretty light spring pressure, but it was enough for the factory cam. Still good with something mild like a web 73, but much more aggressive and you may want to look into stiffer springs for good measure, especially for a more rev happy engine. Just my opinion.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021