How long can valvesprings last when stored?

I always loosen the lash on ours before the cars hibernate for the winter, and I know several others who do the same...but, I read something a couple weeks ago that said that with current valve spring materials and technology that it's not necessary...but I look at it as cheap/easy insurance. For 4 or 5 years, I'd be worried more about rust and such in the internals than my valve spring pressure...

Rob, I'm going to be tearing it back down for a quick go-through before I attempt to start it anyway. Just want to make a parts list of possible replacement items.

Thanks,

Cool...did you put the thing together? If not, it *might* be a good idea to go ahead and replace them...that way you know exactly how long they've been on the engine. Would be a bad deal to use the old ones and get the thing running then hurt it...

Bought my L78 Nova 5 years ago..Previous owner had installed new stock cam and lifters prior to my purchase. I've put only 5000 miles since then. Last month engine developed a bad miss. Cause was a broken exhaust valve spring. I was extremely lucky the valve didn't dropped into cylinder of my NUMBERS MATCHING engine. Replaced all 16 immediately. In hindsight I should have done this when I purchased the vehicle. Who knows how long these spring have been in this engine!

Martin

Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and pull the engine and tear it back down. Change a few things, check a few things, etc. Wouldn't make any sense to try to save a couple bucks, and waste a few grand.