What is everyone using for a valve spring install height micrometer? I own a Comp Cams 4929 but it does not measure the install height correctly due to where the retainer sits inside of it. I looked at Shoebox's valve spring install guide and he uses one but I cannot determine the brand or part number of it. I would rather own and use something a little more accurate than my telescoping gauges. Thank you in advance.

 

Update: The reason for the micrometer not working properly is because the diameter of the base of the retainer I'm using is too wide for the opening in the micrometer, so it will not sit properly. I'll place a few pictures of what I am referencing below. My solution to this is a flat machined washer from the hardware store that sits on top of the micrometer. Even if you did have the proper retainer for the micrometer, you would have to subtract 0.14" from the overall measurement anyway because the micrometer is measuring total length of itself and is not built to take the 0.14" difference into account. After some research online, it is my understanding that this is fairly typical of the valve spring install height micrometers out there. My install height now will be the actually reading from the micrometer plus the thickness of the flat washer I am using. Hopefully this is useful information to anyone else that comes across this issue.

 

My first time using a spring micrometer, the recess where the retainer sits burned me. I didn't realize that depth needed to be accounted for.....seemed silly to me that they didn't account for that when making the measuring marks on the thing. There may be a good reason for it, but so far it's lost on me.

 

I agree with you, I cannot think of a good reason that the micrometer would not account for the recessed depth.

 

Those tools measure from the bottom to the top. The retainer base (part that goes inside the valve spring) sits in the recess but the underside of the retainer lip is what sits on top of the tool and is what determines the "installed" height....at least that's what my tool does.

I have used a washer in the recess flush with the top of tool for the smaller bee hive retainers