mikehayes

I'm at my wits end. I built a custom valve spring compressor to compress the springs (engine is still in the car). If I place the valve keepers in their tapered hole and compress, they just fall out. There's no room to get my fingers into the recessed hole to place the keepers on the valve. Is there a trick here I'm not seeing?
Thanks,
-Mike

Jfrahm

I used grease to stick them to the stems.

951and944S

What kind of tool...?

I made a sleeve with two windows in it.

I use a magnet to set them generally and a pick to force off the magnet into position.

Rotate the first half away from your best sighted position to make it easier for the second half install.

It helps if you can lay a second magnet (small telescopic in both cases) stuck to the retainer (assuming they are ferrous) which will help attract the keeper.

Good luck.

T

mikehayes

Mine is also a pipe with rectangular windows cut out at 180 degrees opposite each other. The magnet technique has not been successful for me yet. Probably because my tool is iron haha

951and944S

Lol...!

Even a PVC sleeve is strong enough.

Be mindful of the lifter bore, you can easily scratch/gouge it if a loaded metal tool goes astray.

T

mikehayes

Yeah, I was worried about that. I'll try the PVC and a stick magnet.

V2Rocket

why are you doing this in the car?

anyway, this might be a good excuse to find a medical supply store and pick up some surgical forceps "pliers" that come in a variety of sizes and angles...they even have little teeth so you can clamp veins or small parts.
have a few, very useful.

mikehayes

The goal was to have it up and running by Friday. Which I'll do easily if I can find a repeatable method of replacing the keepers. Everything else is cake compared to this. I've already bought a few different pairs of pliers for this. Hadn't thought about medical tools.

V2Rocket

but why were the keepers removed in the first place if the head/engine is in the car?
that should be "bench" work.

mikehayes

Ah, I understand the question now, sorry. Since this is the first engine I've ever built, I did everything but the head myself. I had a shop lap/grind the valves. They told me everything in the head looked good, but due to the rate at which I've been burning oil over the first 5k miles, I suspected that the valve stem seals were bad. Obviously had I known I would have replaced them with the engine out of the car (along with the guides, but those actually feel fine), but now I'm paying for my lack of knowledge.

Dan Martinic

V2Rocket

that'd be my local machinist, guy does great and very inexpensive work but always has "that 12oz smell" when the shop opens at 8am LOL

mikehayes

I don't know that he wasn't drunk. The valves held pressure when he was done with it so I'm not gonna judge haha

951and944S

LOL, I'm telling you guys, you tube channel riches await....

T

951and944S

Ahh, bummer but only way to spec wear on a guide is to measure side movement on the other end at XX lift.

Maybe you're right though, could be the seals.

Was there smoke...?

Was it on decel or closed throttle puffs during shifts...?

T