In Car Valve Spring Replacement

[DogCatcher]

I have a SB Ford in my FFR MKII and want to change the valve springs and rocker arms. Can I do this with the engine in the car? What tools do I need and what are the procedures and cautions? My heads are Ford E7, the cam is an e303 and the valve covers are Ford diecast aluminum "Cobra" for EFI. I want to stay with 1.6:1 rockers.

Thanks,
DogCatcher

[powerhouse]

you need a hose and an adapter to put air pressure into the cylinder,this will hold the valves up when the springs are removed, and a hand held spring compressor,the type that clamps on to the spring and you turn a hand knob to compress it. I beleive you can pick one up at sears.
Remove valve covers and rocker arms,remove spark plugs,pressurize the first cylinder,remove 1 spring and replace with new one,if you are going to an aftermarket spring you will need to set it at the proper spring height by shimming it if necesary, they sell a tool called a valve spring height gauge for this purpose, I beleive summit sells one. Repeat on next valve, move to next cylinder and repeat. should take a couple of hours to do the job. Good Luck Andrew

[DogCatcher]

Andrew,

Thanks for the reply. I will be looking for the tools to make this happen. I bought a set of Crane springs and Ford Racing roller rockers today.

Thanks again,

DogCatcher

[nc1mike]

Dogcatcher, Andrew is right on. I have used this tool many times. In you case if this is valve spring assembly that has not been disassembled recently you stand little chance of releasing the keepers. These tools work best on rework as in the race track or dyno shop. Some times old keeper need a lot of compression from the tool and then a good pop with a mallet. If your springs are so old that they need replacing you might be ready for a valve job anyway. When I was a kid I worked in an auto machine shop and let me tell you some valve keepers are almost impossible to release. Thats with a pneumatic compressor and the head on a stand at waist level.
Good luck
Michael S.

[powerhouse]

yeah, I forgot to mention the retainers are gonna be a b%#$h to move to get the keepers out. You can use something such as a socket and a hammer and give it a good whack on the top of the retainers to try and break them free. Just watch out sometimes the keepers will go flying. good luck Andrew

[DogCatcher]

How does one check that the valve lash is in the correct range? I have the springs replaced and am now replacing the stamped factory rocker arms with Ford Racing roller rocker arms. I want to verify that the valve lash in the proper range. I know that with the stamped rockers a tool is used on the rockers to bleed down the lifters. With the lifter bled, there is a specified range of gap between the lifter and the valve stem. How do you do this with the roller rockers?

BTW, the valve spring replacement was a piece of cake!

Thanks,

DogCatcher

[powerhouse]

you want the lifter preloaded .030-.060" this is usually 1/2 to 1 turn after all the slack is taken out of the pushrod. Just be sure that the cam lobe for the rocker you are checking is on its base circle. Andrew