Titanium valve check...

[Bill Ringer]

Originally Posted by charlie westcott

Fyi to anyone that thinks they can get away with Ti valves, they figured out how to check for that now. Very simple test. Measure the displacement of the valve, figure the mass based on steel, wham bam.
I am glad that they came up with this method. Pretty basic. One NHRA guy told me that the only way to check was to put it on a valve grinder and see what kind of sparks it throws.
That might upset a racer.
Its too bad they dont have time or maybe the manpower to do more teardowns. Its what always made Indy relevant in my mind.
I only know 2 cars they checked, which were the hemis, that believe it or not had steel valves.
If we can run those engines as high as we do with steel, anyone that thinks they need Ti might want to research cam suppliers, I know a guy..
thanks
cw

There are devices that can conclusively ID the material without removing the head, just remove the valve spring. With the spring off one can check the stem with an XRF metal analyzer. These are accurate and as small as a few pounds. The cost can be an issue as ones just for this type of test would be around $15K new, less for refurbished plus, they can be rented. If there are other components such as chassis parts that need the material verified it's possible the cost could be justified. I've used these, they're super easy to use and accurate.
This article has all the basic info on this technology - https://blog.metalvp.com/articles/ha...-honest-review