Everything on This Page Comes in Sixes and Twenty-Fours

If you are coming to the 5VZ from a 22R or a 3RZ, this is the adjustment to make first. The 5VZ is a V6 with two cylinder heads and twenty-four valves.

So the head is sold as a set of two, the valve covers come as a pair, and every spring, retainer, keeper and seat set on this page is a set of 24 rather than 16. Ordering one head or one set of 16 springs will leave you short halfway through the job.

The Pro Cylinder Head Set

The Pro Cylinder Head Set for the 5VZ-FE V6 is a complete pair of built heads.

Read the name carefully: it is supplied without cams. That is deliberate rather than an omission — the 5VZ runs the factory camshafts, and your existing cams and cam gears transfer across. Budget for the swap when you plan the job, and inspect the lobes while they are out.

Valve Springs — Three Levels, and the Number That Matters

Spring choice is what decides whether a valve train survives, so buy by what the engine is doing rather than by the name on the box.

  • Street Performer set of 24 — a single spring for a stock or mildly built naturally aspirated engine. The right answer for most rebuilds.
  • Pro Dual set of 24 — for naturally aspirated or low boost applications. The step up once rpm or a little boost is involved.
  • Pro HD Dual set of 24 — for high rpm and boost. This is the spring for a supercharged engine that gets used hard.

Dual springs need the matching spring seat set of 24, and individual seats and shims are available for setting installed height properly.

Retainers and keepers

The Street Performer retainer is the single-spring part for a mild engine. Pro titanium retainers are the dual-spring part — lighter and stronger, which is what lets a valve train live at rpm. They will not work with a stock spring or a stock keeper.

Keepers come two ways: the hardened set of 24 for a performance build, and the standard pair for replacing the odd one.

Complete Valve Train Kits — With or Without Buckets

Two kits, and the difference is one line:

If you are not certain which followers are in your engine, buy the kit with buckets. The saving on the other one is not worth stripping a head twice.

Cam Followers

Our shim-under-bucket followers come in three diameters, and the rule is that a larger camshaft profile needs a larger follower or the lobe runs off the edge of the bucket: 31mm, 34mm and 35mm.

Shims — and the part people miss when they fit our buckets

Our upgraded cam buckets move the valve shim from the top of the bucket to underneath it. That is the point of the design, and it has a consequence: your existing shims will not work. Under-bucket buckets need under-bucket shims, and it is the single most common thing left out of a valve train order.

Five ranges cover 1.45mm to 3.30mm in 0.05mm steps, sold individually:

You cannot order these accurately in advance. Clearances have to be measured with the head assembled, and only then do you know which thicknesses you need — which is why they are sold one at a time rather than as a set.

Running stock buckets instead? The 2.50mm–2.85mm and 2.90mm–3.30mm street valve shims cover the usual range. Some older buckets take a 9.5mm shim in the retainer itself — we carry that size too, so ask if that is what you find.

Valves and Seals

Stainless replacements in stock sizes: 34mm intake and 27.5mm exhaust, both sold individually. Twenty-four of them if you are doing the whole engine — twelve intake, twelve exhaust.

The Viton valve seal set is a while-you-are-in-there part. Hardened seals are what let oil down the guides, and the symptom is a puff of smoke on start-up or after a long overrun.

Head Fasteners

The OE head bolt set is correct for a stock rebuild and is a replace-on-assembly part. For boost, high compression or MLS gaskets, use the Pro head stud set — studs clamp more evenly and let you torque without dragging the threads through the block.

Head gaskets themselves, including the handed LH and RH MLS pair, are on Rebuild Kits, Gaskets & Seals.

Valve Covers

The 5VZ red valve covers are sold as the pair the engine needs. A cosmetic part, and the only one on this page that is.

Specifying a valve train and not sure how the springs, retainers and followers should match? Tell us what the engine is doing and the rpm you want and we will put the combination together with you.

!