Valve collets/keepers
 

I am in the process of overhauling the two cylinder heads on my Rover 75 connoisseur. All was well until it came to replacing the collets. I went to youtube after 2or 3 frustrating hours. Here is the solution and it really does work. I found that because the Rover's collets are so tiny they insisted on adhering to the plastic that the author of this video uses. I used a piece of duct tape folded over so that the adhesive side is on the inside. Even at that the collets tended to stick to the duct tape but the solution is to place a piece of polythene from a freezer bag between the duct tape and the valve spring retainer cap. It works because as you compress the spring the plastic stretches over the valve stem and as it does it presses the collets agains the valve stem. This really does work.:D
The link is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtO8ev0Q9jc


Fred

I find that amazing :eek: if you hadn't done it yourself I would have said it wouldn't work on our heads ! I used a conventional spring compressor and wriggled the tiny collets in on the end of a magnetised screwdriver ; took ages and in fact drove me to drink …….. again :}

Magnetise the collets.--They then stick to the valve stem.--:D


Done it lots of times and it works.

That's true , and they also stick with a dab of grease :} But these are the smallest collets I have come across and the trick was getting them into position in the first place , when using a conventional compressor :mad:

I find that everything becomes magnetic. The forceps, screwdrivers and everything sticks to everything. Eventually lady luck intervenes and success! Then you start all over again with the next valve. The manufacturers must have had a clever trick that they are not telling us about.:mad: Seriusly though, the technique I have described does work. It seems to work best with inch suare pieces cut from the little pouches that some cat food comes in. Cats do have a use apart from catching mice.:}
Fred

I have used a piece of tube as an extension on the valve-clamp. I have cut two "windows" in the tube to access the collets and put them in with a magnetised screwdriver and some grease on the valve stem. Time consuming work, but it works. I always put a rag over when releasing the clamp to avoid the collets fly away if not seated properly.

Fred , do let us know how it all turns out in the end :}
You've had some fun with this one ……...

I certainly will! The engine is now out. How do I post photographs? Do I have to use photobucket? I had great fun trying to extract the bigend bolts. The torx sockets i have jump from E14 to E16. Is there an E15? All the tool sets seem to omit E15. or are the big end bolts some b*****d- size?:eek:. I suppose I can't use the B*****d word.

Fred

In the "reply to thread" window , the toolbar at the top has a paperclip symbol . This will open another window which allows you to attach photos etc either from a website or from your hard drive . If your photos are too big they will need to be resized , but there is info provided there :}