i am replacing valve spring seals on my friends 1991 RS and i am wondering if it is possible to remove the valve springs with the heads still in the car??

also is there anything of importance that i should know when replacing the valve seals??

 

Yes you can remove the springs w/ the heads still on the car. If you have access to air lines thats the easiest way to go.

You get a fitting that threads into the head like a spark plug and attatch the air line to that, this holds the valves in their seats. Then you remove one of the springs, replace the seal, install the spring and do the other valve for the cylinder. Repeat until you've done all of them. I've used this method 3 times and I haven't dropped a valve yet.

There is a way to do it w/o the air lines but I've never tried it.

 

yeah def. its the easisest way to do it!

 

Yeah...filling the cylinder with compressed air is the best method for doing seals without pulling the heads, but if it comes down to it you can also just roll the motor around so that each piston sits at TDC while you do the seals on that cylinder. That way, even if you do let one drop, it will only go about 3/4" and you can still grab it by the stem and pull it back up.

 

I did that on my car with the engine rotation but I also head of the old rope trick where they stuff the cylinder with rope to keep the valves up.