Thread: Retainers for LS style springs

I'm not positive on the correct retainer except that both Intense and ZZP and probably W body etc all have an LS style. Are they LS, are they not?...dunno.

On the install height.
Stock spring install height is ~1.72x"
LS retainer spring install height is ~1.78X"

You would need to mill down the spring seats to achieve a correct 1.800" install height. But no one does until the heads are off and major head work is being done.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

I'm not positive on the correct retainer except that both Intense and ZZP and probably W body etc all have an LS style. Are they LS, are they not?...dunno.

On the install height.
Stock spring install height is ~1.72x"
LS retainer spring install height is ~1.78X"

You would need to mill down the spring seats to achieve a correct 1.800" install height. But no one does until the heads are off and major head work is being done.

To get it to 1.800" instead of 1.78" install height, does it make that much difference? Will it coil bind if running extreme lift? I ask because currently I have the LS6 springs and they appear to be installed at a 1.78" height using the manley steel retainers and compcams locks from Intense. My machinist took a little more than 0.100" off the valve guides so I shouldn't have to worry about that. If I run a S1x with 1.8rr or XP with 1.7rr, my lift would be about 0.590". I would of course have to upgrade springs for either of those, but wondering, would I really need the seat ground down.

L76 retainers are the same as LS1, LS2, LS3, etc retainers. The only thing that the compainies do is, machine the bottom of them for clearance when running a cam with too much lift. For 1.9 rockers, you'll be fine with stock LSx retainers. I ran that combo for about 9 months. If you are looking to cam it, well, it will depend on what cam you choose.

Also, for a 1.9 rocker setup, I would find a different spring. With the lift that will be added, you'll be dangeriously close to the limit on the l76 springs. I ran them without a problem and put somewhere around 15k miles on them, but that was before I knew about the problem with them.

If you were to go with S1X or XP plus rockers, I assume you had a bunch of head work done to flow better?

S1X plus 1.8's is .579/.592. The machinist I worked with said that he's seen ~15 to 20ft lbs of extra preload on springs with the ~.02x incorrect install height. question is..where does everything bind etc? Likely you'd be ok. But...why risk it?

I ported the heads myself. I'll post pictures if it helps, but my machinist thought I did a really good job. Took me a couple days to do them. I'd just hate to bother him to get the seats cut in. He's had some health problems recently and still has my block to finish honing. He says he has about 0.550" lift on his Grand National. How was the driveability/response to throttle with the 0.592" lift you used to run. Which I was wondering what happened with that.

I kept tearing input shaft reluctor wheels off the drive gear in the transmission. Took the car apart and sold the motor to Four Sixer. He had me take his 100% stock 98 GTP and do everything to it. I fired it up yesterday and it sounds awesome.

It was good overall on the street. Way more power than my right foot should have available. Fun as heck.

I'm wondering if it's going to act like my Malibu or a car with turbo lag. I miss being able to press the gas and actually go when I do it, not 1-2 seconds later. I've heard if you go really big on lift, then it will be slow to response. That's at least with NA cars. I don't know if the blower makes up for that.

Originally Posted by RegalGS98s

I'm wondering if it's going to act like my Malibu or a car with turbo lag. I miss being able to press the gas and actually go when I do it, not 1-2 seconds later. I've heard if you go really big on lift, then it will be slow to response. That's at least with NA cars. I don't know if the blower makes up for that.

Mine didn't have any lag. It was gone the second the TPS saw my big toe twitch.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Mine didn't have any lag. It was gone the second the TPS saw my big toe twitch.

Were you able to control the throttle and drive in traffic normally. Or was it the little bit of gas you give it, it breaks the tires free. My friend has a Pontiac GTA that he built a Motown block engine at about 572 CI and over 0.700" of lift. He could barely touch the throttle and burned off new tires just going around the block. He didn't have it dyno'd, but it was estimated at about 1000 hp. I don't want my car to do that, lol.

Very easy to control. Most didn't know there was anything under the hood unless they got my attention or I was at a light next to them and they caught the front to back rocking that the car would do in gear at idle, plus the sound of the cam etc. Even the 2.9" pulley was quiet until hopping into 20-30% throttle.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Very easy to control. Most didn't know there was anything under the hood unless they got my attention or I was at a light next to them and they caught the front to back rocking that the car would do in gear at idle, plus the sound of the cam etc. Even the 2.9" pulley was quiet until hopping into 20-30% throttle.

Dare I ask what mpg you got with that setup, lol?

I just got 1.9s and have LS6 springs and Manley Steel Retainers w/ comp locks on the way, all from Intense. I haven't heard of anyone having issues running this setup yet.

I got 25 highway (3.29's) and at the worst of spinning from every light it was about 16mpg.

I have ZZP modded rockers and used their regular LS style retainers. 2 years later and no issues...