Valve Spring Compressor

Greetings, fellow Jeepers!

The 5.3 is getting new valve springs to match up with the new camshaft. I’ve borrowed a C-clamp style compressor from a friend but it flexes so much that the ‘cup’ for the vale head tries to make a groove in the valve.

The local FLAPS has a small thing that grips the spring, with a screw that compresses it. Do these things work well? I’ve not used that style.

Jon B.

 

i had one of those, bought it from harbor freight. always fought the stupid thing because it wouldnt hold the spring correctly. it broke after doing a few heads and i wasn't particularly sad to see it go.

 

Hit the retainer with a hammer and try to compress the spring again.

If you can find one for a decent price, a pneumatic valve spring compressor is pretty handy to have. I bought this one used a few years ago and it's fairly old but it's still going strong after seeing a few thousand springs.

 

I had gone over all of the valves with a deep socket and hammer to free them.

Last night, I ordered this:
https://www.glennsautoperformance.c...g-compressor-installation-tool-set-for-all-ls

It may need three hands to change springs but…

Jon B.

 

I bought one of these when I was working on my Mustang with a .640 lift solid roller cam: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-906788



My cheap older compressor couldn't deal with the heavy valve springs. The Summit one worked great.

 

I used one of the screw types for years, it was an American made one, worked well. No experience with harbor freight version. I made one for the dauntless that works with rocker shaft.

 

The borrowed one is an old Craftsman with a rack & pinion and a ratcheting latch. The “C” is huge - much larger than is necessary - which allows a lot of flex. If it was mine, I’d weld a bar across it to limit the bend but since it’s not…

It probably worked well for old tractor valves but hasn’t the stiffness required for modern engines.

Jon B.