Anyone out there know where I can find .030-.040 thick valve spring locators? Springs are 1.625" od., .770 id. w/.570 dia. valve guide. Plenty of .060's out there. Have some samples on the way,but sometimes the numbers aren't what they are thought to be until you measure them in hand. It is possible that at that thickness and that spring,they may not be considered strong enough.Any ideas? Cutting the seats is out, as the heads are heavily ported Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

Check out PAC and Manley. They both have thinner spring locators for multiple spring sizes.

I could not find any either, I just took mine to a machine shop and they used a small surface grinder and milled them down to .030.

After checking the catalogs against your spring specs, I see what you mean. Are you able to get some additional installed height with a different lock? I know PAC will do custom stuff, but it might be cheaper to use a different spring. If all else fails, you can have them Blanchard ground, as mentioned, or someone with a good Hardinge 5C collet lathe could trim them for you. I've trimmed them in the lathe when I needed that little extra to help me sleep at night.

Just curious, are you in interference, or coil bind where you are now? Or are you after a specific install height?

Thanks for the suggestions.Sample parts started coming in today.Dang,if I didn't get lucky.Had to settle for od.of 1.510", but was assured by Isky tech dept. that was an acceptable dimension for that valve spring combo (1.625").The company that supplied me with the locators is Victory 1 Performance,Mooresville NC. 704-799-1955. Very fair price,and large selection. They used a partialy machined blank and finished the inner spring shoulder to my requirements. All dimensions were correct as ordered.Great folks to deal with,willing to take time to help me put this Edelbrock Victor/Big spring thing together. All the larger companies didn't have anything to fill the bill.Mike's B3Racing rocker arm geometry correction kit is the best investment you can make to get the room to pull this off. Moparts member,Jeremiah has a wealth of information on the Victor head/valve spring issue also. Thanks to all these folks. Bill

I got 0.030" thick spring locators from PAC for their 1326 valve springs on the Victor heads.
I think it was a custom order where they machined a standard 0.060" thick locator down?

Are you guys so close to coil bind, that .03 is a problem?

I guess it boiled down to personal preference. I was looking for a way to take advantage of a good quality 1.625" spring from the beginning. Jeremiah and Isky both suggested the 9945RAD spring,which is dimensionally different from PAC's 1326 spring (inner and outer). The Victors are somewhat all over the place,especially between intake and exhaust,as to valve tip height from valve spring seat, another tip from Jeremiah. With the heads being heavily ported, cutting the spring seats is out. Trying to build something here that makes reliable power and not be a valve spring/ valve gear eater.Even with my conservative .690" valve lift ,it was a fight to get a 1.625 RAD series spring in there. The option of the choice of
.030" &.054" locators allows much better tolerance for me to get this dialed in right the first time, rather than having to start from an expensive scratch later.Yes it is near coil bind depending on available hardware.Manley's +.100 titanium retainer was a fight with the rocker arm due to the extra height and thickness.Will be using Isky 975ST light weight steel retainers.Plenty of clearance here. This should produce a very durable pkg. Only wanting to spin it to 7500 ,if necessary. I'm 65 ,so this high on my bucket list! Thanks, Bill