Valve spring micrometer

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dartfreak75

dartfreak75

Restore it, Dont part it!
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I'm having a horrible time getting this thing to work correctly I'm I doing something wrong any tips or tricks? I have gotten four of my intake side and 1 on my exhaust side I'm having a horrible time getting the keepers in and the when I do get them in I cant get them back out. The tool just doest seem to collapse enough to give me adequate clearance for the keepers. You can see in the photos the one side goes in but the other is extremely tight. Iv damages several keepers already on the intake side trying to get them out. Any help is appreciated btw these are small block heads and I am using the 1.4-1.8 tool from summit I can5 find a shorter one than that.

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Do you have the mic base on the step or the valve spring seat? I cannot tell in the pictures.
 
If you run it all the way down..... how short does it get?

Mine goes as short as 1.300.

In the pic, it doesn’t look like it’s “bottomed out”.

A suggestion for something you can try.
Grind the bottom tang off a pair of keepers........ then on one of the valves where you can easily get the hite mic in and out, see if the modified keepers have any impact on the installed height compared to the stock ones.
If not, then just use the modified ones as a checking tool, since I think you’ll find with the bottom tang gone, they’re easier to get in and out.

0441E873-0AFF-40EF-98C4-3F244261324D.png
 
PRH said:
If you run it all the way down..... how short does it get?

Mine goes as short as 1.300.

In the pic, it doesn’t look like it’s “bottomed out”.

A suggestion for something you can try.
Grind the bottom tang off a pair of keepers........ then on one of the valves where you can easily get the hite mic in and out, see if the modified keepers have any impact on the installed height compared to the stock ones.
If not, then just use the modified ones as a checking tool, since I think you’ll find with the bottom tang gone, they’re easier to get in and out.

View attachment 1715597883
Click to expand...
There is a small gap but its bottomed as far as it will turn. That's a great idea on the keepers thank you
 
I had to file the bottom of the inside part off because it was setting on the step before it would get to the seat. Now it sets on the base but its still extremely hard to get the keepers in and out
 
I just checked mine, it will sit flush on the spring seat, and clears the step even with it run all the way down to 1.300.
Sounds like the center of yours could stand to be shortened a bit.

It’s amazing how some of that **** gets made wrong.
I bought mine about 30 years ago, the short one, and the normal one(which will go as short as 1.500).
Maybe 12-15 years ago I bought the “tall” one.
 
You seem to have heads with rather short installed height.

Seems like most old heads I work on the installed height ends up closer to 1.70, and I can often still use the “normal” height mic on those heads, even with the multi-groove valves....... but occasionally I need to use the short mic.

Is yours around 1.300 fully collapsed?
 
Like mentioned above , you can grind a little off the bottom of the locks (if you have a couple spares) it will work for you with that mic. Good luck.
 
I think he's mentioned before elsewhere his installed height is 1.625". That's correct for a small block.
 
OK I ground the last lock off the keepers that worked perfectly! Thank you so much @PRH your a lifesaver! It took me 10 mins to finish this head the first 1 took over 3 hours to get one cylinder! So this head came out on the exhaust side at 1.65 1.635 1.63 .1645 the intakes are all around 1.625 looks like I'm gonna have to cut all the seats
 
PRH said:
You seem to have heads with rather short installed height.

Seems like most old heads I work on the installed height ends up closer to 1.70, and I can often still use the “normal” height mic on those heads, even with the multi-groove valves....... but occasionally I need to use the short mic.

Is yours around 1.300 fully collapsed?
Click to expand...
Mine is 1.330 fully closed. Grinding the bottom lock of worked wonders it made it 100 times easier. Thank you very much
 
dartfreak75 said:
OK I ground the last lock off the keepers that worked perfectly! Thank you so much @PRH your a lifesaver! It took me 10 mins to finish this head the first 1 took over 3 hours to get one cylinder! So this head came out on the exhaust side at 1.65 1.635 1.63 .1645 the intakes are all around 1.625 looks like I'm gonna have to cut all the seats
Click to expand...

Simply adjust them all to the shortest one. 1.625. That will be fine. I never, ever cut seats for valve spring height. You will lose 10% of your valve spring pressure after break in, so that tiny bit more pressure will not hurt a thing.
 
dartfreak75 said:
The intakes are from 1.6-1.64 the exhaust is from 1.6-1.65 I can live with 1.64 but .05 seems like alot to me.
Click to expand...

That's .050" of an inch. Stack it up on a feeler gauge and look at it.
 
.050in is just a hair under 0.0625in, which is 1/16in. if you need to reduce the installed height, the thinnest shims I use, are 0.0325in, which is 1/32in. I think if you used anything thinner, they would get torn up by the v. springs in use.
 
When I run into this scenario I just use 1 keeper and hold it square while I turn it to the measurement. Don't worry about jamming both keepers in there for a measurement. Also when I got mine I turned it to various heights like 1.600" 1.700" 1.800" and actually measured it with calipers. It was .020" larger. I chucked 1 half in the lathe and faced .020" off and now it reads accurately. Just something to check if you haven't already. J.Rob
 
RAMM said:
When I run into this scenario I just use 1 keeper and hold it square while I turn it to the measurement. Don't worry about jamming both keepers in there for a measurement. Also when I got mine I turned it to various heights like 1.600" 1.700" 1.800" and actually measured it with calipers. It was .020" larger. I chucked 1 half in the lathe and faced .020" off and now it reads accurately. Just something to check if you haven't already. J.Rob
Click to expand...
Thanks I tried to do it with one keeper and couldn't keep it straight. I did measure to make sure it was accurate and its pretty close.
 
dartfreak75 said:
Thanks I tried to do it with one keeper and couldn't keep it straight. I did measure to make sure it was accurate and its pretty close.
Click to expand...
One keeper is hokie, it gives for higher readings than the actual height with both. I'm sure you can slip by, but I dont recommend it.
Make sure you have enough coil bind clearance before you go installing them @1.625
And .050 might not seem like much, but check the psi increase of .050 less height on the spring tester. Just know what you have so it doesn't bite you in the ***..
You can get locks that increase the height and then shim it to spec if you want. Or cut the spring seats .020 and call it good @1.645
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
One keeper is hokie, it gives for higher readings than the actual height with both. I'm sure you can slip by, but I dont recommend it.
Make sure you have enough coil bind clearance before you go installing them @1.625
And .050 might not seem like much, but check the psi increase of .050 less height on the spring tester. Just know what you have so it doesn't bite you in the ***..
You can get locks that increase the height and then shim it to spec if you want. Or cut the spring seats .020 and call it good @1.645
Click to expand...
Yea that's my main concern also with the 1.62 my springs will only be .026 from bind. I'm not comfortable with that.
 
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