The manufacture of valve springs...

Posted by D-train On 2014/12/12 5:37:06

Hi everyone,

I have a friend that has worked at a family-owned spring company for years. Every holiday season we meet and always end up talking about manufacturing and the lack of quality from overseas stuff. I have kept him in mind if I ever happened across an item that I would need to replace/re-manufacture in my restorations(he has other contacts in other manufacturing areas that I can tap also) ...and to make available to others in the hobby. Well this year, he told me that they purchased another small spring shop. ...a shop that manufactures brake springs for one of the large brake vendors and valve springs. That's all that I needed to hear.

So I know that there are vendors out there with valve springs readily available for the old cars. In looking at some of their listings, I can't really see where they are manufactured. So my plan would be to only use U.S. or Canadian wire. To move forward (or even think about moving forward) I would need the specs on the springs used in the various engines across years. ...starting with Packard, of course. Does anyone know where I would find those? ...wire gauge, coil diameter and height? I know that the various manuals list pressures at open/closed heights.

...and I'm not soliciting, I am more than happy to hear opinions and suggestions.

Thanks,

Mark