{"id":13336,"date":"2021-06-17T00:23:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T04:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/?p=13336"},"modified":"2021-06-17T01:08:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T05:08:06","slug":"talking-stainless-steel-valves-material-is-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/2021\/06\/17\/talking-stainless-steel-valves-material-is-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Stainless Steel Valves \u2013 Material Is Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0<\/span>TODD SILVEY<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>JUNE 16, 2021<\/span><\/div>\n


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Arguably the most significant factor in a high-performance or all-out racing engine is its ability to breathe. Whether air\/fuel flows into the combustion area or exits as exhaust, the engine\u2019s valves play an integral role in the flow efficiency needed for raw horsepower. When you visit a leading builder of racing engines, you will probably see more time invested on the flow bench than any other research and development tool, because airflow is everything.<\/p>\n

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Stainless steel valves are not necessarily produced with the same base materials across different manufacturers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

We investigated some of the latest engine valve designs to see how they handle the ever-increasing demands to provide more flow and durability. To raise the dynamometer needle constantly higher, increased cam lifts and larger doses of compression or even \u201cboosted\u201d engines tax your intake and exhaust valves more, as well.<\/p>\n

Notably, many professional engine builders use\u00a0<\/span>Erson<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>manufactured valves for their builds. We visited with Jack McInnis, Marketing Director for Erson, to review the latest technology in its various performance\/racing engine valve lines.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The materials used in valves today offer the biggest jump in technology related to longevity. The alloys used for stainless steel valves today can vary greatly; assuming they are all the same is not a good practice. \u2013 Jack McInnis, PBM\/Erson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Raw Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

We pored over various valves offered by manufacturers and confirmed that metallurgy could vary significantly between brands from those who provide the raw material specifications for their valves. It is personally alarming that with so many stainless steel varieties varying in strength, one must question the materials used from a manufacturer offering no more details in their description than just \u201cstainless valves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Erson 2000-Series are what we call our race series valve,\u201d McInnis explains. \u201cThese are what we specify as your kind of street\/strip and sportsman racing type of stainless valve. We start with a one-piece forging from an EV-8 stainless alloy. This alloy contains a little more nickel and chromium in the raw forging, so they\u2019re extraordinarily strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martensitic steel is a material used by automotive manufacturers in original equipment engine valves. It offers features like corrosion resistance but lacks in strength for a performance application. McInnis adds, \u201cThe martensitic steel is strong at room temperature compared to stainless steel alloys, but as the temperature goes up related to horsepower, it loses some tensile strength while stainless gains strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAE Specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the specs you want to look for in performance and racing valves come from a \u201ccode system\u201d qualified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE.) An EV8 or EV-8 description for stainless steel valves is not a specific metal but is based on the use of accumulative alloys.<\/p>\n

Such examples by the SAE code include an \u201cNV\u201d code for a low-alloy intake valve and an \u201cHNV\u201d code for a high alloy intake valve material. Another material code commonly used is specified as \u201cEV,\u201d a valve alloy with 16- to 30-percent chromium and 2- to 20-percent nickel for enhanced surface quality, formability, and wear resistance.<\/p>\n

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