TheSamba.com :: View topic - Is there a valve spring compressor adapter out there

Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:02 am

I have the valve spring compressor but because of the raised gasket surface surrounding the valve springs I need some sort of adapter that will sit on between the top of the valve springs and the compressor so I have the height to compress. Mine just fits now but will not compress because it hits the valve cover gasket surface.

Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:13 am

Try and old larger sized socket the size of the retainer?

An old school mechanic once showed me a trick where you just stick the same sized socket on the spring and a few blows with a BFH and the keepers jump out and spring and retainer come right off... Then he showed me how with a block of wood holding the valves in tight you could push down on the spring and retainer with big boxed end wrench and a helping hand could install the keepers. Said he was showed that trick out in the field in the military as a grunt working on trucks and tanks...

Spring compressors are nice to put them back on with but there are ways :wink:

Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:27 am

Ya I know the old hammer trick. They make a magnetized socket to pull the keepers off. I thought they made an extension for the valve spring compressor but I can't find it now. Maybe it is obsolete. I might have to hack saw a slot into a deep socket.

Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:27 am

1975 Kombi wrote: I have the valve spring compressor but because of the raised gasket surface surrounding the valve springs I need some sort of adapter that will sit on between the top of the valve springs and the compressor so I have the height to compress. Mine just fits now but will not compress because it hits the valve cover gasket surface.

I use a valve-spring compressor intended for overhead cam engines, which requires no adapter! Regretably, I cannot presently recall the brand name or part number, having had it for probably 25 years.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:30 am

am bringing this back to life. Am looking for a valve spring compressor that will work on T4 heads on the bench. The one I have works great on T1 heads but the gasket area on a t4 is too tall. I've made homemade retainer adapters but would really like to find a permanent solution without welding to the one I have now. Empi makes a simple device like the VW 311 but they don't specify if it will work on a T4. Anyone who works on T4 heads have a recomendation for a tool that is available without it becoming a project to find one?

this is the Empi one - Bench Mount Head Assembly Tool 5742

Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:21 am

Here's my home made valve spring compressor, it's on a small drill press:

I just shove a rolled up rag under the valve to stop it from moving.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:25 am

that drill press compressor is brillliant. I have worked in a shop diassembling VW heads, for bug and vanagon I use something similar to what SGKent pictured, but the vw version of the tool. for type 4, or assembling wbx, I use an air power compressor, looks like a giant c=clamp. nice because it holds the retainer down for you. also the end that grabs the retainer is replacable with different sizes and shapes, so it will do most any head.

hammer+ socket + magnet works too.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:15 am

There's one in the ads now. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=718655

Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:42 am

Bought this new from Snap-On in 1979... Works on any head and on the road too...

Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:48 am

Emeritusx - I was looking at that style online last night. Is it something you can use to pull all 4 valves on a type 4 head easily and quickly?

FYI - I've seen the drill press sytle before and it works well if one has a large drill press.

The bang with a hammer trick works to take them apart but not to reassemble them. It can also be a way to crack a valve guide.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:01 am

You know, it sometimes is a little fussy, but I have used it with great success on every american head you can imagine, and I just tried it on the 1600 head I got laying in the garage. I like the way it holds the spring for reassy.

I would be lying to tell you I have tried it on a type 4 head... I do not see a problem. But you know how that goes... Damn surprises everywhere..

You hafta loosen everything up first a little (I use a orange rubber snap-on hammer) Block the valve, compress the spring, sometimes another tap on cap and walla valve guts..

Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:54 am

[quote="SGKent"]am bringing this back to life. Am looking for a valve spring compressor that will work on T4 heads on the bench. The one I have works great on T1 heads but the gasket area on a t4 is too tall. I've made homemade retainer adapters but would really like to find a permanent solution without welding to the one I have now. Empi makes a simple device like the VW 311 but they don't specify if it will work on a T4. Anyone who works on T4 heads have a recomendation for a tool that is available without it becoming a project to find one?

this is the Empi one - Bench Mount Head Assembly Tool 5742

[img]http://www.hoffmann-speedster.com/images/produkte/027/027_0492.jpg[/img][/quote]

A friend let me use his on a t4 I was working on and adding small blocks taped to the heads allowed me to use this type of compressor... easy fix... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=658827

I have one kinda like the CG-90 but, it can be tough at times to use on a t4 head... I have used that type for many years but it can be a pain though...

The drill press way is slick and looks like it would be easy to use... I will have to make an adaptor and give it a try the next time I do a valve job...

Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:01 am

Thank you Camp.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:02 am

camp wrote: SGKent wrote: am bringing this back to life. Am looking for a valve spring compressor that will work on T4 heads on the bench. The one I have works great on T1 heads but the gasket area on a t4 is too tall. I've made homemade retainer adapters but would really like to find a permanent solution without welding to the one I have now. Empi makes a simple device like the VW 311 but they don't specify if it will work on a T4. Anyone who works on T4 heads have a recomendation for a tool that is available without it becoming a project to find one?

this is the Empi one - Bench Mount Head Assembly Tool 5742

A friend let me use his on a t4 I was working on and adding small blocks taped to the heads allowed me to use this type of compressor... easy fix...

I have one kinda like the CG-90 but, it can be tough at times to use on a t4 head... I have used that type for many years but it can be a pain though...

The drill press way is slick and looks like it would be easy to use... I will have to make an adaptor and give it a try the next time I do a valve job..

fixed :) I really should pay more attention to the dates :)