Got a decent valve spring compressor

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65TerrorCuda

65TerrorCuda

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Old compressor could barely do single springs. Finally had to get a better one after the speedmaster double springs bent it up. The proform feels like it could do quadruple springs or crush wine bottles. Supposedly has a 700# capacity.
Cheapest place I could find it was autozone.
Silver one is the old hand torture device for comparison. Feels like it should last forever, good welds, well thought out, pretty impressed.

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That's a new model they've come out with. I looked at one from them about a year ago a friend has and it's a piece of ****. I'll have to look into this one. Thanks.
 
I don't know....they have some pretty crappy reviews. I think I'll wait. LOL
 
I built one similar to the Proform. Bought the lever off of ebay for $10.00. Loaned it out and never saw it again. Bought a Proform as a replacement.
 
I saw the review that said the frame was made out of buttery soft metal and got scared but auto zone is just down the street in case it was actually crap I would just return it. Needed a dab of grease and no problems. This one didn't get made at 5pm on Friday lol

Let's see those homemade ones! I thought about doing that with a good c-clamp or welding one out of rectangle tubing but I'm not that good of a fabber.

My only real complaint is the handle doesn't lock into position. The linkage kind of goes over-center to hold the spring and while it doesn't fly open, if you weren't careful and bumped it, it could.
 
I would love to show off mine, but its 200 miles away, at the moment.
I turned a piece of round steel to fit the retainers inside a shoulder, milled a slot through it to get keepers in and out, and welded it to the fixed side of a twelve inch american made c-clamp. 800 lb springs? No sweat!
 
33IMP said:
I would love to show off mine, but its 200 miles away, at the moment.
I turned a piece of round steel to fit the retainers inside a shoulder, milled a slot through it to get keepers in and out, and welded it to the fixed side of a twelve inch american made c-clamp. 800 lb springs? No sweat!
Click to expand...

Same, my normal compressor couldn't handle the springs for my mech roller cam. Had a spare clamp at work that was sacrificed for the greater good.

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Your turned, milled piece is a dead ringer for mine. Only difference is my c-clamp isnt adjustable. It has a eight inch long screw, so that hasnt been a problem, works like a champ. It is heavy, however,lol. Whats nice is, its still perfectly usable as a c-clamp!
 
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TurboGLH said:
Same, my normal compressor couldn't handle the springs for my mech roller cam. Had a spare clamp at work that was sacrificed for the greater good.
Click to expand...
What is the throat depth on that clamp? Center line of the clamp to inside face of the beam? I don't have a head hand to measure the needed distance.
 
I dont know about Turbo's, but mine is at least five inches throat depth, and i would guess an 18" clamp. (Maybe only 14", not here at the moment). Has done bbm, bbc, and gen 1 hemi. Havent run across any head or spring it wont do (except my flatheads, of course!)
 
gzig5 said:
What is the throat depth on that clamp? Center line of the clamp to inside face of the beam? I don't have a head hand to measure the needed distance.
Click to expand...

I loaned it to someone, I asked them to take a measurement when they get a chance tonight.

33IMP said:
Your turned, milled piece is a dead ringer for mine. Only difference is my c-clamp isnt adjustable. It has a eight inch long screw, so that hasnt been a problem, works like a champ. It is heavy, however,lol. Whats nice is, its still perfectly usable as a c-clamp!
Click to expand...

The nice thing about the adjustment bit, is not having to thread/unthread the whole way. You can compress, uncompress and then get it out of the chamber just by adjusting it. I was pretty happy with it, should have made the windows bigger, I had to fight a bit to get the keepers in
 
gzig5 said:
What is the throat depth on that clamp? Center line of the clamp to inside face of the beam? I don't have a head hand to measure the needed distance.
Click to expand...

5.5" throat depth.
 
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