Stock valve retainers - excessive lateral movement normal?

Guys,
Is it normal for valve spring to have so much possible side play with stock retainers?

Single spring with internal damper.

 

Yes that’s normal, they do wiggle around, in fact Kenne Bell used to sell “no wiggle retainers” just for that issue.

 

Ok, anyone ever try the Crower retainers?

So a stage 1 came with the same retainers that allow the springs to wiggle around?

This is for my budget 455 build.

So don’t worry about it?

 

The retainers can move around almost 50 thou

 

Yep there pretty sloppy

 

Update, have ordered the crower retainers, my friend who is an amazing mechanic has put together valve shims for the correct spring height for the comp cam springs.

 

Yes, normal!
Retainers that need to be pressed in with force into the outer or inner spring will greatly increase the chances of snapping off the top coil of the spring.

I have seen this failure many times where builders used mismatched parts and forced them together!

 

Thanks. The crower retainers are for Buick, the dimensions look right for the dimensions of the comp springs.