Years ago, we remember hearing a story about a young kid being invited to watch a dyno session with a small block Chevrolet. While another 350 spinning on an engine dyno didn’t sound like anything groundbreaking, he was assured that this would be like nothing he had ever seen before. There in the dyno room was the small block, but with the valve covers removed. In place of the valve springs, retainers and rockers were a series of 16 electronically-controlled solenoids. Wired to a sequence of probes and readers on the timing cover, the digitally-timed electric solenoids operated the completely push rod, shaft and rocker-free valvetrain.

While this video isn’t exactly that, it is an awesome find on Bang Shift that we caught recently. The crew at Decuir Engine Technologies out of Pinon Hills, California, have developed a cam-operated, push rod-activated valvetrain that eliminates valve springs and thereby valve float and all of the power absorbed by the valve springs. While we don’t expect to see springless valvetrain sweeping the nation anytime soon, it is welcomed thought that new technology can improve classic muscle.