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Replace yellow LS6 valve springs

I came across a spreadsheet on corvetteforum.com with reported valve spring failures linked to the car build date. My 2003 with yellow valve springs was right in the sweet spot for a failure, which is not a good mix with track day usage and high RPMs.


I decided to use the blue GM Performance valve springs, as I don't have any immediate plans for a cam upgrade. To prevent valves from dropping after removing the retainers, I coiled up a rope through the plug holes and then rotated each cylinder towards TDC. When the breaker bar resists rotation, I know that the rope is pushing on the valves. I removed the retainers using a magnetic tool and a light tap with a plastic hammer. 

While the valve springs are out, it would be dumb not to change the valve stem seals as well. The seals are easily removed using a plier, and I simply pushed the new seals on using a valve spring.

I checked the valve gear for wear. The tappets looked almost like new, and I couldn't find any valve guide wear/play. All the trunnions looked in good shape and no needle pins were found in the oil pan (which I removed to change the gasket).

When reinstalling the retainers, I applied MoS2 grease to keep the them in position until the spring tension was released.