need valve spring and retainer #'s

[dustin3207]

from EC dist. for my 16hp briggs. If anyone could help that would be appreciated.

[Roger S]

They will know what you want if you ask for vangaurd twin springs/retainers. You use your original keepers. You have a choice to use only the outer spring, which is good to around 6200 rpm. One set does one head, so get two sets. around $60 I think for two. If two of your pushrods are aluminum, replace them with steel. You have their phone #?

[jerseybigfoot]

They will know what you want if you ask for vangaurd twin springs/retainers. You use your original keepers. You have a choice to use only the outer spring, which is good to around 6200 rpm. One set does one head, so get two sets. around $60 I think for two. If two of your pushrods are aluminum, replace them with steel. You have their phone #?

You can also call Al at Performance V Twins 704-291-7825
They have shim kits for the existing springs, steel spring retainers and billet alum pushrods. Their rev kit also includes an advanced offset key.

[dustin3207]

called AL

It's going to cost almost 2 times what the rev kit costs to get it to me. I can ship 6 tires for less then that.
I'll just call EC Dist.

[Roger S]

If you deal with both Hodge and E.C., it won't take long to figure out where the value is. There is absolutely no reason to buy anything from Hodge for the 14-20 vanguard. Maybe a 23, nah, not really. Ok the big block vanguard, maybe.

I talked to Hodge and priced a rev kit, rods, pistons, cam. Then George at E.C.. I saved hundreds going with E.C. Not because of cutting corners, but different strategy and common sense. I could have Hodge's Aries pistons, his rods, and billet pushrods.. instead I used 1/8" longer ARC rods and stock pistons and stock steel pushrods. Compression is up and the stock piston and pushrods are good to 10,000 rpm so why spend $ where is doesn't do any good. Hodge used to be the only source for billet rocker arms but no more.

George Herrin bought a Hodge cam years ago, it went flat in 1/2 a season in his vanny. Hodge claimed there was nothing wrong with his product and the problem was everything but the cam. George bought another cam at $250+ and it went flat before the season was over. He didn't buy a 3rd. Since then, he's ran every cam Precision Cams has made with no problems. Hodge's cam blanks were faulty and he eventually fixed his problem.

When you talk to Hodge, you're talking to a saleman. When you talk to George, you're talking to a trained master briggs technician who's gone beyond that and builds and races some of the fastest V twins around. But the best thing about George is his down home, simple philosophy of doing whats right for a customer. If you want to spend $50, he has a solution. Or he may tell you the $50 doesn't need to be spent. You can also spend $5000 for a Tecumseh twin monster. In five minutes he gave away 5 years of knowledge telling me what basics to do to my vanguard, one mechanic to another. Didn't hold anything back. He says the only secrets he has are the ones we forget to question him about.

Now that I've talked down Al Hodge, I'll say something good about his rev kit. It's built for the 600 racing sealed engine, where everyone is supposed to be equal on the track 'cause all the engines are the same. The rules don't allow anything but stock valve springs. Hence the rev kit's spring shims. And his high dollar pushrods are a few grams lighter which allow the flimsy briggs springs to hold the valves shut for a few extra revs. But if you're not running a bandelero car with rules, why bother with cheesy springs and expensive billet pushrods. Spend the money you save somewhere else. The weak spring setup does reduce stress on the stock briggs rocker arms. I havn't had problems with running both the inner and outer E.C. springs with stock rockers, but the guys who rev high with big cams and 8,000+ will break 'em. I think briggs has a stronger rocker arm on their late model vanguards, not sure the years involved. But this is why I mentioned only running the outer spring of the E.C. set.

If you want to advance the timing, grind the stock key like Marc suggests.