SR20VE Valve Train

Hey all,

I am in build process of my SR20VE build for my S13. S13 SR bottom end, P11 VE head. I am having a hard time deciding on whether or not I want to retain the OEM valves in the head or if I should spend the money and get a set of aftermarket valves. This will primarily be a street car, at maximum around 500 WHP, obviously the power number doesn't really matter, as long as driveability is there. 500 is just the goal. I know many have pushed past this number on a stock top end, but I still want a bit of reassurance. Reliability is key.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may provide!

Kevin

You didn't mention much of the age of the head or the condition of it, so I'm just going to assume its in moderately used or pushed heavily. In either case, because there are a lot of unknowns to uncover here which I don't know (eg. bent valves, carbon build up, etc.) its worth spending the extra money for reliability. I would purchase a new set of valves just so I don't have to worry about it. Of course, you'll have to get them seated and do a leak test, which can be additional time and costs but you'll feel much better doing this if you want reliability. 500 is a good goal, but if your current valvetrain has any issues you'll be wishing you bought new valves which can cost you way more time to pull the engine out and rebuild the head.

Furthermore, on the more positive side, if your valves look good (relatively clean) + are not bent + seated properly + no leaks, I would just go ahead and reuse them (assuming everything is checked off on your checklist for catching bad valves).

I will inspect them when I pull the valves. I may end up getting new valves for reliability sake. Not many aftermarket options for VE valves unfortunately. I had to buy a second VE head, because UPS utterly destroyed the deck surface of the first head I purchased. The head was cushioned perfectly, but the box it was in broke apart due to mishandling.

Thank you for the response

Also, I just noticed I posted this in the absolute wrong section! I apologize for that.