Hi Gang,
I have the head from my Spit in the shop now for a rework. The guy is
making it flat (tho' it was out <.0025), grinding the valves, and generally
freshening up the whole thing. He believes the springs to be weak, based
on some numbers that he had in a valve spring book. I've looked in several
references (Haynes, Bentley, and various parts books) and can't find any
numbers on what the pressure of the springs should be. I *can* find free
length, load length, # of turns, rotation, etc. but nothing to tell me what
the spring should read in lbs. at an open and closed valve position. Anyone
have info on those kinds of numbers? I'm only concerned because his
reference did not specifically list Spitfire 1500 (US spec.) but had Spitfire
"lumped" (no pun intended) in with several other models. I am going to have
him put new springs in but I'd like to be able to tell him what the springs
should be rated.
FWIW, it took me about 2 hours total time to have the head in my hands and I
did not have to use the "rope trick". In fact, it came off with only a
little persuasion. Maybe that's why the gasket seeped oil. At any rate,
you gotta love the ease of access in working on these cars. Wish y'all
could've heard the machinist snicker when I walked into his shop with that
"little, tiny head" under my arm.
Please copy me direct as I'm on the digest version and, as always, thanks.
Dee "looking forward to springs" Jackson
'78 Spit FM90204UO
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dee_jackson@gilbarco.com Gilbarco Inc. Greensboro, NC voice 910/547/5007
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