I am contemplating getting Toda Spec C's and was wondering if its possible to change my valvesprings w/o removing the rocker arms....I basically wanna do it w/o removing the head...

Any help would be appreciated.

 

to remove the valve springs with out taking off the head u need a tool to compress the cylinder with air so that the valves stay up

 

What if I just set pistons #1 and #4 at TDC and just do it? I mean, How far can the valves fall in anyhow if the pistons are at TDC?

 

Wont work, the valves will still fall in a bit. Also when you use the tool to compress the retainer/keeper you may push the valve down into the piston. I have heard of putting nylon rope into the cylinder and then moving it to TDC to hold the valves in place, but the method I used is the air pressure method. You will have to remove the rockers, its no big deal.

 

Cool.....I gotta figure out how to do it....with the rope, I dont have access to an air compressor

 

I helped disassemble a B18C head a couple weeks ago. If you want to do it w/ the head on the car, you will need a compressor made for overhead cam engine heads, like this one from Snap-On, $120:
http://buy.snapon.com/catalog/pro_de...re&dir=catalog

Yes you have to remove all the rocker arms. There are 2 bars running through the head that the rockers pivot on. You pull these out slowly, and remove the 3 rocker arms on each side of each cylinder as you go along. Then you use the tool to push down on the valve retainer. It make take some work to separate the retainer from the valves/keepers. When you get it separated, stick a magnet in the openings on the side of the tool to grab the keepers (tiny little things, 2 per valve), let off the spring compressor slowly, and you can then remove the springs and retainers (dual intake springs on B18C1 heads). This is just what I know from watching and helping my friend dissassemble the head. You might want to get a Helm's manual to assist you. A Hayne's manual might work, but I don't know how much detail they go into, I'll have to check it tonight.

 

Thanks bro, my buddy has that same exact snap on tool. At least I can borrow the tool and not have to spend for it...cool....

Thanks everyone for the insight.

 

im telling u now... its still a apin in the *** no matter how u look at it... i put valvepsings/retainers in a head about 2 weeks ago and it takes some patience... its not that it hard or anything... just that those keepers tend to **** u off here and there (oh and if ur doing this while the head is still on the car... be careful not to drop the keepers down the oil passages

 

What did you use to get air pressure into the cylinder and keep it there? I want to do the same thing, but I'm not sure what to use to push air into the cylinder and I don't have an air compressor either.

I'll prolly just have to pull the head, just wanted to save myself some time.


[Modified by porch, 10:35 AM 1/25/2002]

 

You might could use one of those small electric air compressors used to pump up a tire, provided you have the right attachment on the end of the hose to allow you to put the air hose down in the spark plug tube. You shouldn't need much pressure, just enought to keep the valves from falling down into the cylinder, and enough pressure to keep the valves up when you compress the springs/retainers. When the cylinder is pressurized, the valves will become like check valves, i.e. the air pressure itself holds the valves closed, but if the valves are opened, the pressure escapes.


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 1:08 PM 1/25/2002]

 

I don't see why you take the rocker arms out. You only do it to remove the rockers. If you push them back and out of the way you can access the valve springs with that Snap On tool and do the removal that way. We would take the intake and exhaust rockers for the cylinder we were working on and tie them together with a rubber band. With them wanting to go in opposite directions they actually stay together towards the middle.

Definitely want the air compressor hose tool that will screw into the spark plug socket to compress the chamber to about 100psi of air to keep the valves from falling.

 

Oh yeah! DUH! I didn't even think about that. I was just going by the process we used a couple weeks ago, but we were disassembling the entire engine head.

You'll still have to remove the camshafts, of course, but once those are out, just flip the rocker arms up and out of the way. Sorry bout the confusion!