I have another thread going on here about re-using 8BA valve train parts. From the responses, it seems the part are good to re-use. One area I still have reservations is valve springs. I was looking at valve spring testers on the net, and it seems the cheapest are about $100 with shipping. I was thinking that I have 3 different torque wrenches in my tool box, and started wondering if I could make my own tester using one of these, some scrap steel, a couple of pillow blocks, and a midified 6" 1/2 extension. It would seem to me that if the arm pressing down on the spring was 12" long, a lb/ft wrench would produce the proper readings. Also, a one inch bar acting on the spring would give a direct reading with an in/lb wrench. Anybody out there have any ideas, formulas, or opinions? Seems like it would be an easy (cheap) thing to do.
I have done the same. Put a bolt in the chuck to keep the spring in place, compress to desired height, read scale, grab next spring and repeat. Neal
my valve spring tester uses a torque wrench. it was made by Sturtevant Richmont. i see them on eBay sometimes for cheap , paid $20 for mine
I tried the bathroom scale thing and found that some sort of support was needed to keep from denting a hole in the center of the scale. It was one of those things that is obvious in retrospect; a couple hundred pounds pressing onto a small area.
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