I have demonstrated the use of my home-made valve spring compressor in several other posts in
the past, but never got around to giving any details or measurements. It's a fairly
simple tool in concept, but it works quite well for Volkswagen cylinder heads - it can
also be used for other overhead cam applications. Here is a picture of all of the parts
which make up the tool (click for a larger version):
In a nutshell, there is a "foot" piece which presses down against the upper spring retainer. The
foot is pressed down by a long lever. The lever braces against a "bridge" (just a good, strong,
round bar), and the bridge is held in place by a couple of angle brackets which bolt onto either
end of the cylinder head.
Below is a picture of the foot piece, with the dimensions added. The diameter of the piece is 1.25",
with a window cut into it which spans about 120 degrees. Note the position of the window relative to
the mount on the top of the piece - that offset is intentional. The window gives you access to the
valve keepers while the valve spring is compressed, and I found access to be a little easier with
the window offset to one side a little bit. The height from the bolt going through the top mount
down to the very bottom of the foot is 4.75". Click on the picture for a larger version, which
will make the captions easier to read:
Below are pictures of the handle, which is 19" long. There is a notch at one end, which mates with
the "bridge" piece. Click for larger versions:
Below is a picture of one of the right-angle brackets. Both brackets are the same. The hole in the bottom
goes over a valve cover stud, the hole in the top is for the bridge piece to go through. These pieces bolt
to the cylinder head (using the valve cover studs) and provide support for the bridge piece. The height of
this piece is 3.75" (from the middle of the bridge holes down to the bottom). The width of the piece of steel this was made from is 1.5", and 1.125" of the piece
was bent to make the bottom. Click on the picture for a larger view, with readable captions:
Lastly, here is a picture of the "bridge" piece - it's just a polished stainles steel rod that
I had laying around. Whatever you use to make this piece, make sure it's good and strong - it
will be under a lot of force. The length will depend on the size of your cylinder head - make
it maybe an inch more than the length of the head.
