Topic: Cheap Valve Spring Compressor - Too cheap?

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Hmmmm not sure these will work for us due to the small size of our valve springs and the fact some models have dual springs.  Any thoughts?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92900

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97975

[Patrick]

Go to Advance Auto and get the C-Clamp type compressor they have in their free tool lending program. Quick and easy.

Patrick

[MCRider]

Hmmmm not sure these will work for us due to the small size of our valve springs and the fact some models have dual springs.  Any thoughts?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92900

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97975

Both of these are not the traditional "C" clamp type, which is the best for off the engine spring removal. Those are for "on the engine" spring removal.

I own the first one (or mine looks like that one i should say) and it works fine. I used it with the head on the bike, I changed the valve springs from a way to HD variety to a stock set, when I changed out the cam, all of this years ago.  No reason you can't use it with the head off the bike, but you have to rig something (tape?) to hold the valves. When the head is on the bike, one uses the piston to hold the vavle from dropping in.

PS: A quick internet search shows the "C" type compressors to be $125+!! Wow. So the HF El cheapo or patrick's idea of borrowing looks attractive.  I have a C clamp type but i must have bought it when I was feeling better.

[tomkimberly]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

[MCRider]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

Very nice! Something else to spend money on.

[Magpie]

Ditto on the $34.95 one, it worked well for me.
Cliff.

[Patrick]

I still prefer "free," but that's just me.

[MCRider]

I still prefer "free," but that's just me.

If you borrow one from an auto parts store, ask them if they have different sizes as a small one would be easier to handle than one designed for a larger head. Some of those "C" varieties are really huge.

That's what's so cute about the one from SportingforLess. It is petite for our size heads.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

FREE is definitely the price I had in mind.  But the nearest Advanced Auto to me is like a WHOLE MILE away!    and what about those of us prone to sleep-tuning at 4:am ?  

[Patrick]

Find a 24/7 Advance.

[754]

Whip up a forked tool, and take them out in a drill press.

You need a magnet, pick, 2nd person to hold head, and/or a fixture(could be made of wood)

You will never mess around with those c-clamp ones again..

[mark]

Whip up a forked tool, and take them out in a drill press.

You need a magnet, pick, 2nd person to hold head, and/or a fixture(could be made of wood)

You will never mess around with those c-clamp ones again..

I like this one.

I'm picturing a cheap 5/8" deep socket with the sides cut out, snapped to an extension clamped in the chuck.

hmmmm....

[754]

Several ways to make that piece,

I have used rectangle stock centered in a lathe(with most of the middle cut out) then turn a 45 degree bevel into that to help center it on the collar... put a pin in the other end, it gets gripped in the drill chuck.

or drill a piece of round bar, a bit bigger than valve collar on the od, the inner hole at least 100 thou smaller than dia of collar. Then cut the sides out, drill the other end and insert pin to allow holding in drillchuck.

The really cool way is to get a hold of a chopper tech. Ask for used clevis ends off the helicoptors, they look like tuning forks but shorter and are made of Ti. The ones I got (3 different) all had 3/8 fine thread on one end, fits nice in the drill chuck.

If you have a lathe turn a piece of bar to fit in the center hole of the drill table & long enough to reach the valve head without any part of head touching the table.. you could use wood or plastic, or make a piece to fit the dome of the chamber.


The tricky part is holding the head, because 1 hand is holding thedrill press handle, they other is needed to flick out the keepers... so be warned.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Hmmmm not sure these will work for us due to the small size of our valve springs and the fact some models have dual springs.  Any thoughts?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92900

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97975

The first one worked for me. Hard to beat the price.

[Trevor from Warragul]

This is cheaper

[754]

Take the last pic, weld a bolt into the washer (threads away from washer), them remove the clamping bolt, and put it in a drill chuck..

[Alan F.]

This Craftsman unit worked great for me, costs $20 and is in the 2009 catalog, get one locally, lifetime warranty, decent price.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947627000P      use the linkage at the right, enter your zip code and find one near you.

[moham]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

After reading this I went and spent about $200 on that site. Some cool stuff there.

[coyotecowboy]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

After reading this I went and spent about $200 on that site. Some cool stuff there.

Thats where my carb sync gauges came from.  really good service

[moham]

This Craftsman unit worked great for me, costs $20 and is in the 2009 catalog, get one locally, lifetime warranty, decent price.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947627000P      use the linkage at the right, enter your zip code and find one near you.

Perhaps I'm a bit "country-slow" as they say, but I bought that Craftsman unit and had to spend about 15 minutes on the grinding wheel to get it to work for my 550 head (and then only barely). The mouth of the depressor was just too wide to get into the tight openings (I know, that's what she said). Even then I was leaving tiny little gouges in the aluminum as I was trying to get the angle just right. Just my own experience. As I said in the previous post, I just bought the Sporting for Less version as I don't want to trust my "modified" Craftsman on re-assembly.

[moham]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

After reading this I went and spent about $200 on that site. Some cool stuff there.

Thats where my carb sync gauges came from.  really good service

Yea, I picked up the carb sync set too ($129 version on sale for $100), the steering bearing tool and a couple other small bits...

[coyotecowboy]

LOL, I got that set too, ebay from them.  might have been 5 or 6 bucks less.  Found that set at Z1 for the bargain price of $189!!!

[HondaMan]

Hmmmm not sure these will work for us due to the small size of our valve springs and the fact some models have dual springs.  Any thoughts?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92900

That's just like the one I use for bikes and cars and lawn mowers and...

[Alan F.]

Quote from: Alan F. on January 03, 2009, 06:48:47 pm
This Craftsman unit worked great for me, costs $20 and is in the 2009 catalog, get one locally, lifetime warranty, decent price.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947627000P      use the linkage at the right, enter your zip code and find one near you.


Perhaps I'm a bit "country-slow" as they say, but I bought that Craftsman unit and had to spend about 15 minutes on the grinding wheel to get it to work for my 550 head (and then only barely). The mouth of the depressor was just too wide to get into the tight openings (I know, that's what she said). Even then I was leaving tiny little gouges in the aluminum as I was trying to get the angle just right. Just my own experience. As I said in the previous post, I just bought the Sporting for Less version as I don't want to trust my "modified" Craftsman on re-assembly.

Sorry to hear that, it was next to effortless on my 750 head.  Hopefully they're not selling whatever they can get cheaper that week as the same part number...

[CBJoe]

I have the same craftsman compressor.

I had the same issue with the depressor being too wide to easily use on my CB650 Head.  I would chalk it up to differences between the 550/650 head and the 750.

Regards... Joe

[Pinhead]

I have the same craftsman compressor.

I had the same issue with the depressor being too wide to easily use on my CB650 Head.  I would chalk it up to differences between the 550/650 head and the 750.

Regards... Joe

Agreed. The Craftsman one wouldn't work on my '79 650 head either. The 650's innards must be a bit tighter than the 750's.

[CBJoe]

I got the craftsman unit to work the other day by cutting a notch out of a piece of copper tubing and placing it between the valve spring and the craftsman's depressor.

Pretty much the same thing that everyone else is doing with the large C-Clamps.  I gotta say that it worked like a charm.  Got two heads disassembled without issue.  At least now I dont have a worthless tool hanging on the wall.

Cheers...Joe

[HondaMan]

This Craftsman unit worked great for me, costs $20 and is in the 2009 catalog, get one locally, lifetime warranty, decent price.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947627000P      use the linkage at the right, enter your zip code and find one near you.

I just bought one of those to work on a 550 head porting job. I had to add a short (3/4" long) piece of tubing to make the base push down into the casting surrounding the springs, but it works fine for those little spaces.

[moham]

This Craftsman unit worked great for me, costs $20 and is in the 2009 catalog, get one locally, lifetime warranty, decent price.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947627000P      use the linkage at the right, enter your zip code and find one near you.

I just bought one of those to work on a 550 head porting job. I had to add a short (3/4" long) piece of tubing to make the base push down into the casting surrounding the springs, but it works fine for those little spaces.

Yes, perhaps yours is a simpler solution to my grinding, etc...

[Pinhead]

I can see how that would work to disassemble the head.. But how about putting it back together? How do you fit your fingers inside the 3/4" pipe to replace the valve keepers?

[Patrick]

FWIW, the valves on my XS11 are recessed in the head. To get them out I bent a piece of 1/2-inch aluminum strapping into a "U" shape and used it with a C Clamp. You could pull out the keepers through the gap in the "U."

[MotoMartin]

Hmmmm not sure these will work for us due to the small size of our valve springs and the fact some models have dual springs.  Any thoughts?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92900

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97975

The first one worked for me. Hard to beat the price.

Thanks Jerry for the post, I have the cheapo Harbor Frieght tool and I didn't think it would work for reassembly, your post inspired me to keep trying. A socket and a 6" D clamp is still the best way to get the valves off.

[crazypj]

http://www.sportingforless.com/Valve-spring-compressor-p/t08.htm

$ 34.95 plus shipping.


Tom

 I hate to recommend SFL, but that's the compressor you need for 350.
 price is actually pretty good too.
PJ

[moham]

 I hate to recommend SFL, but that's the compressor you need for 350.
 price is actually pretty good too.
PJ

Why do you say you hate to recommend SFL? Is there stuff no good?

[crazypj]

 I hate to recommend SFL, but that's the compressor you need for 350.
 price is actually pretty good too.
PJ

Why do you say you hate to recommend SFL? Is there stuff no good?

 Not the stuff, just the carb 'kits' that need total re-jetting to work properly (unless you have a two stroke)
They say they are 'correctly jetted for various bikes (CB350/360, Yamaha XS650, Triumph 650/750, etc, but come with 'stock' RM/YZ/KX 125/250 jets (all two stroke MX bikes)
 I contacted them about jetting and all they had to say was carbs were correctly jetted and it was 'proprietary'
 Need new emulsion tubes, needles, main and pilot jets and sometimes float level adjustment.
Basically, they are not honest about the carbs so I wouldn't support them
There are plenty of threads all over about them.
 some people rave over the carbs, but that's generally because they didn't have bike running so anything is an improvement. I've helped dozens of people out re-jetting them over the years.
 The problem may be from SUDCO (importers).
 Looking at various pictures there they show 'primary choke' (two stroke) discharge tube but SFL shouldn't 'blow smoke' over it

PJ

[mark]

Here's what I did:


dug around and found a piece of tubing - around 5/8" o.d..

ground holes in sides, cut to length, beat the 13mm head of an 8mm bolt into the end of the tube.

close drill press chuck on bolt shank. support valve with a socket.

compress spring. tighten quill clamp to hold chuck down.

pick out keepers with magnetized screwdriver.

snap a pic.

dratted valves are too small to fit the grinder. dam.