Hey whats up, I'm new to writing in these forums but not to reading them; I have a 1998 F150 4x4 Lariat w/ 4.6 Romeo block. Anyway, am currently rebuilding the block and have assembled the lower end; I used a standard screw type valve spring compressor to remove the springs. However, getting them back in seems to be an issue. The griping ends of the compressor stick in too far thus making it damn near impossible to position the springs over the new viton valve stem seals, and when you can, it's not compressed enough to get the keepers in. If I get sick of it I guess I'll just let a machine shop do that for me. If anybody has a brilliant idea, I'm open to it.

On the other hand this truck has 205k miles on it, always changed the oil religiously; when I took it apart you could still see the factory crosshatch on the cylinder walls! Virtually no valve train wear! The downfall was that almost every external seal on the engine was failing as well as the Oil Control Rings being trashed with hardened oil and carbon. So.... Re-ring it is.

Jeremy

 

Sorry, Never Mind, I finally got them all on just fine. My valve spring compressor just needed a little persuasion to hold the springs properly.