I have a jdm h22 and was wondering if it was possible to use upgraded valve springs and retainers on the factory cams. Is this good or bad?

 

You can....but why?

 

well, i recently bent my valves and have to take it to the machine shop to get my new valves put in. I figured i would just buy springs and retainers so that way when I get cams in the future I wont have to go through the hassle of getting the springs put in.

 

You will be fine with aftermarket springs on stock cams, just make sure they're able to handle the lift and duration of whatever cams you end up buying in the future.
And don't bother with aftermarket retainers for an NA setup, stock is perfectly fine. Those titanium retainers are mainly for FI applications because of their heat dissipation ability, far better than stock for that. I have stock retainers in my B18C1 with Spoon cams and Type R outer/Portflow inner valvesprins with a 8500 redline. And even new ones are really cheap, I got all 16 for around $40. OEM fit and reliability, baby.

 

I disagree. Titanium retainers are not for heat dissipation, but for a reduced valvetrain mass. They cut down the friction and wear on the valvetrain by making it lighter. And what makes you think that a FI head runs hotter than an N/A head with high lift, long duration cams creating more friction?

Since you plan on upgrading cams in the future, upgrading the springs and retainers now while everything is apart is probably a good idea.

 

Will the springs improve performance or affect it since I dont have aftermarket cams.

 

No, they shouldn't. It would be wise to do the cam upgrade soon though.

 

yeah i plan on getting cams put in by next month. I dont think one month will do too much damage.

 

i was just wondering if there were any downsides to doing the valve springs with stock jdm h22 cams.

 

You should be fine. The only thing I can think of is the extra friction because of the stiffer springs, but it shouldn't make a difference if the valve lash is in spec.