scott12180 35 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I'm working on a 1926 Packard Eight. I need to make new valve spring retainers and keys for the slotted valve stems because the original ones were discarded by a previous owner. Do I need to make these spring retainers and valve stem keys out of hardened steel, or can they be non-hardened steel? SHOULD they be NON-hardened?? MUST they be hardened? I bought the keys from Egge but am surprised that they are a very soft steel.Our machinist thinks there is no need for the retainers and keys to be hardened because there is no movement between mating surfaces. Only inertial loading. A friend in the restoration business thinks they should all be hardened. Any opinions? --ScottPS: The original Packard spring retainer (the only one I have) appears not to be hardened. Link to post Share on other sites
Bhigdog 3,110 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Here's my opinion. Hardened steel is used for wear surfaces, so there is no need for hardening and in fact it might be a negative because hard steel is brittle. The ideal materal would be a tool steel that is hardened and then tempered to a spring or "tough" temper. A good compromise would be for you to have your soft steel parts case hardened. That would give them a hard "skin" for wear with a soft core for toughness........Bob Link to post Share on other sites
nearchoclatetown 306 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Don't guess. There should be a supply of used or NOS retainers and keys out there somewhere. Racers use aluminum retainers so I doubt yours were hardened, but of course their's don't have to last 100000 miles. Just an opinion. Link to post Share on other sites
DizzyDale 0 Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Dear nearchocolatetown,RACERS use titanium retainers and valves.NEVER had a problem,over.800 lift cam and sometimes 10,000 rpm..diz Link to post Share on other sites
nearchoclatetown 306 Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Don't guess. There should be a supply of used or NOS retainers and keys out there somewhere. Racers use aluminum retainers so I doubt yours were hardened, but of course their's don't have to last 100000 miles. Just an opinion. </div></div>Dizzydale, I guess I should have said "some racers", unless you want to dispute the Summit catalog. They show part number DCC-4529823 as being an aluminum valve retainer. The point was that they need not be hardened. I wasn't trying to exclude other metals. Link to post Share on other sites
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