Valve Spring DIY.. how difficult are we talking?

[Brian318is]

So I need to replace my valve springs in my m42, and I couldn't find a good DIY or any truly useful info before I started gathering parts.. honestly, I have been considering just getting a low-mileage used m42 and just doing a direct swap and just swapping all my nice m42 parts over to it..

So what do you guys think? Should I take the time to do the valve springs, or just find a cheap m42 and swap it over. My engine is pretty good.. getting higher into the mileage (probably near 170k) and have a mysterious coolant leak that I have not yet been to fix..

What do you guys think?

[DesktopDave]

I'd be tempted by a motor swap.  There are a fair number of M42's that get swapped...you can get a low mileage unit in the $250 range if you look.

It's unlikey, but some mysterious coolant leaks end up being a cracked head or block.  I'd get a coolant sniffer, compression and/or leakdown test to be positive it's a solid motor before doing more work.

[Brian318is]

Yeah that's what I was worried about.. unfortunately, not many m42's for sale here in SW Florida.. I'll see what I can do.

[DanOKC]

If you need new valve springs, why not just take the head to a machine shop & hand them new valve stem seals & springs & have them do a valve job ?  

I started to pull all the valves on one I bought 2 years ago that had bent valves.  I had to make an extension tool for the valve spring tool & it was still a PITA.  Search & you will find there are not any good valve spring compressors for this head design. Not at least for less than $100.  The better tool a machine shop uses involves a bar longer than the head that is mounted on a work bench & has a sliding lever with handle on the bar.  That is much easier & quicker method to remove valves.  Figure $250 to $500 for the machine shop bill.

If you find a good valve spring compressor for this type head, please post a link.