Yeah...I've seen 'em on Ebay...Summit and Speedway also sell 'em, but they're smaller than the originals the original tool mfr made for Ford... The flathead valve bar was what prompted me to make my forge, after my bud gave me the Peter Wright anvil. The original valve bar I had from when I started on flatheads in '55 was a 7/8" hex bar, with the fork on the end. Some ****weed stole it from my garage, in '56. (I'm sure it was someone I'd shown how to use it!) So, I bought a 36" wrecking bar, and will forge it into the 'real thing'.
You can still find the old KR Wilson V-78 S-230 forged steel bars on the flea-pay now and then but they don't go cheep very often.
I habitually buy about every piece of flathead valve toolage I see in the hope of eventually achieving some kind of snap-click-done nirvana... I think the old KD 245 one is the best, better than KRW...also like everything KD made for flathead valves. KD is I think the longest one made by several inches and mine has survived unbelievable abuse...I notice pictures in catalogs that look like repro KD, long, round handle, distinctive flattened area near each tip. I have no idea if these are well made. These nice tractor geeks have posted the KD manual, one of the greats in mid 20th century American literature: http://www.ntractorclub.com/howtos/pdfs/KD-Valve-Service-Bulletin.pdf Next...remember that if you have a '49-53 or an early engine with late valves you can do this all WITHOUT valve bar and stuff. If you are working with early valvetrain, there will be blood... Get every tool you can find and 2 extra boxes of bandaids!
I only have luck with the KRW bar when the valves haven't been in the motor very long. After they have been in there for 40+ years I use the gripper type horse shoe clip remover and the wedge valve ***emby driver made by All Power. If that won't get them, it's on to the the KD C-clamp type puller to get them out. If all of that doesn't work I pull the valve keys or cut the valve stem and drive the guides out with a 11/32 driver punch that was made to install the guides into the flat head Harley motors. Many times You have to pull the cam & followers and drive them out from the bottom up. Next to removing badly corroded pistons, this is one of the more time consuming parts about dis***embling the old flathead V8s. They go together so easy but coming apart can be a real challenge.
The KD guide puller is the nuclear weapon for the early engines especially...but on the earlies you teed one of the several kinds of tool out there to kill the retainer first. The KD type, a curved punch, is reproduced but carries more risk of tearing the hole out of the retainer without actually removing it than the cam gripper type...which is hard to find. Again, on a late valve train you can get by without special stuff as all necessary violence can be applied directly without special gear. If early valves are going to be junked anyway...skip the proper procedures and tools. Center drill valves so heads fall off, remove spring retainer and mud wrestle the spring out, drive everything straight down with a long socket and a hammer.
The worst one I ever encountered was one that had a broken camshaft from an old farmer that tried to pull start his old F5 truck with a tractor and the valves were all stuck tight. It drove one of the cam followers plum up onto the valve stem after punching a hole through the top probably just before the cam let go. Getting what was left of the cam and follower out was just as hard as getting all the stuck valves out. It turned out to be a real nice crack free block though so it was worth the effort.
Your red bar is civilian KRW, mine is OD from one of the WWII stashes that Joblot was selling off in the 1970's. They has a bale of the things, NOS right from some warehouse, and were down to about the last 3 when I finally came up with the crazy $15 they wanted. Those were the days...but I was a broke student! Joblot let me roam their warehouse, a wild place back then, but I rarely had any money...I could almost have put together some NOS Fords back then with a only few bucks!
If early valves are going to be junked anyway...skip the proper procedures and tools. Center drill valves so heads fall off, remove spring retainer and mud wrestle the spring out, drive everything straight down with a long socket and a hammer. Trust me this is the best advice. There is nothing in the original ***embly that you want...get modern springs, one piece guides and new valves.
Stay away from any that look like 1/8 sheet metal. They will bend and distort on the first use !! Get a good one.
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