I got a valve spring compressor from Sears, and on my SECOND valve spring that POS broke... the part that slides up and down and pushes on the top of the spring has a retainer ring at the bottom which sheared off, dropping into my head along w/ the washer...

What a f'in POS! I'm taking it back for a new one I guess.... I've seen better designs though... this one sucks.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Michael

 

I used a KD tools #2078 that seemed to be a better design. Once I got used to it, it worked fine. I actually bought the Sears tool and stopped at O'Reilly's on the way home to look at what they had and bought the KD there. It is the same one that Slim used on the StreetIllusions web page.
http://www.streetillusionsracing.com/RR/Image018.jpg

I took the Sears one back after I was done.

 

Yea, that one looks hella better... it has like "guides", which the Sears POS doesn't...... that's basically the problem, it got crooked so it was in a bind as I was unscrewing it, thus shearing off the retaining ring on the tool.

So O'Reilly sells that one? I think I threw away the frickin' box for the Sears one, but I plan to take it back and get a new one anyway, even if I don't use it. Their POS shouldn't have broke.

Thanks,

Michael

 

I used the kd one works like a charm

 

Man, someone has to come up with a better spring compressor than this sh*t.... I got the KD one from O'Reilly and it is definitely a better design, but it is still a pain in the **** to operate...

Something with a standard nut instead of a manual hand crank would be nice so I could put an air ratchet on it instead of making my hands & arms ache like crazy...

Took me 2 hours to get the two springs on Cylinder #8 done....

Car still disabled.... many springs left to go, lots of work left to go, ARGH!

Cam install = going slow.

-Michael

 

What I found was to initially take the time to center the top on the valve retainer and grab the spring as low as you can. When putting the compressor on the old spring, I sometimes had to use a screwdriver to push one or both legs securely onto the spring. Once it was on securely and centered at the top, all I had to do was crank away. I did make use of my Mechanix gloves at times, though. The crank is a little hard on the hands.

 

I've done 3 valve spring swaps with these or the Summit version of it :

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=21052

-Alex

 

I had no luck with a similar tool I bought from Jegs. I was disappointed. It caused a misalignment of the new spring as it was compressed and I could not get the keepers on. I tried "adjusting" it a little and it still did not perform to my expectations. Plus, I could see no way it was going to work under the cowl. Even if I disassembled it to put it on, there would be no way to get leverage to make it work. It seems it would work well with the heads off where you had more room to make sure it stayed straight.
The KD was not perfect, but yielded better results for me with the heads on the car.

 

Thanks for the info shoebox & all...

I think there has to be some improvements that could be made on these designs... the KD one is definitely nicer than the Sears one, but it's still cheesy and fatiguing....

I'll be glad when I get down to the stuff where I can whip out the impact wrench.... actually I already used it to remove some of the nuts where it would fit (obviously NOT on #8, d@mn that one is a beotch).... Is that BAD?

Am I going to be really upset when I get down to working w/ the crank hub? heh.

-Michael

 

I'll have to disagree with you on this one, Shoebox. The Moroso stud mount compressor listed is a well made professional quality tool. What brand "similar" tool did you use? I can't believe you used the Moroso unit and were disappointed. I've tried three different type SCs and the Moroso was hands down the finest from my experience. It is easy to use, positively holds the springs, works with dual springs, and works under the cowl.

I personally used this tool and reached all springs, and yes, those under the cowl! The farthest ones required disassemblying the tool and the lever was a tight fit, but it worked just fine under the cowl. I experienced a "misalignment" on a few springs as you mentioned due to their location, but after I made some simple adjustments with the placement, it worked very well. Many of those twist type compressors won't work well with dual springs. Dual springs? No sweat for the Moroso. It is adjustable and works with the larger BBC studs. I recently used it on 461BBC engine. And unlike the hand twist type SCs, I didn't need physical therapy on my wrists after completing the job.

I have a Lysle SC and once borrowed a K&D SC. The Lysle is fair. The K&D was decent but a pain to use. It took me longer to use the K&D compared to the Moroso and the K&D I had wouldn't work with dual springs! That bites.

I love the Moroso SC, it is one of the best tools I've encountered.

 

You can't really disagree with me because I did not use the Moroso tool. The whole reason I got the tool is because I thought the design was good and heard probably you and some others talk about it.

Perhaps my mistake was getting the Proform knock-off. I guess I should have known better. It looked basically the same, but I fought the thing for some time before giving up and getting the KD which was available locally.

 

Oops, my bad. I guess my opinion is so positively biased toward the Moroso tool that I jumped the gun.

I've had reasonably good experience with Pro-form tools, althought they are not built for daily professional like Snap-Ons or the like. Fortunately Pro-forms are fairly inexpensive. I have two of their valve adjusting tools (one size for SBC and one for BBC). They work very well. I also have one of their barrel micros for setting up spring install heights. Theirs is alum, but better made ones are steel.

One thing for sure the right tool will make any engine work so much easier and done properly.

 

If it wasn't for Don 97 SS advising me to use this tool I would've shot the motor up. It is hands down the best spring compressor I've used. I tried using a twist type but it messed up my dual coil spring(not to mention my hands) and pushed the inside spring near out. Definately a good buy...more expensive then the others but well worth it.
http://moroso.com/catalog/categorydi...?catcode=27035

 

Like I said, Moroso spring compressor. I've already watched a bud throw a screw type compressor into my garage wall - that was funny. He almost killed himself when the finger came off of the spring.

As for the "tough" springs, I ended up attaching a nylon wire to the short handle and compressing the spring from under the car (for good leverage). If the handle were cut or something else could be used, it would probably work fine. Also, you can tilt the spring as mentioned...just takes some practice and it actually helps to do the springs with the TDC method - the valve is at a fair height to pull the springs.

-Alex

 

Was it a Craftsman. At sears I think they have lifetime warranty on all Craftsman tool.