Building your own valve compressor?
The haynes manual has a great suggestion for a valve spring compressor, namely to get 1 inch box section steel and cut-off the top and bottom of the box, leaving just the sides for about 2 inches.
As described, the tool is only usefull with the head off the engine. However, if you notch the metal a few inches back to form a Vee and then weld it together, the result is a tool that will work on the car.
Be sure to relieve all the rough edges on the metal. I got the metal stock from a tube supplier down the road an used a hacksaw to form it and a file to smooth the edges out. I paid a guy at the local muffler shop to do the weld.
Another alternative is to spend 50$ on the KD-3087 spring compressor. Been using it for the past 15 years. I hate the adjustable foot on the thing, but it works like a charm.
-CTH
