I have done this successfully a few times. Just push the rope (I have even used a plug wire) into the cylinder at BDC on the intake stroke and rotate the crank until the rope is mashed against the valves at TDC compression. The combustion chamber will then be filled with the rope. Then valve stem retainers can be removed. Good luck.

 

It should be that simple. is 4-5 ft too much rope? Seems like its bundling under one side of the cylinder and leaving too much space under the exhaust valve.

 

seems like i tried this years ago also; it did work >

 

Another option: I saw a commercial with Kevin Harvick, He was 3 " tall...
Pull out a plug and he can crawl down in the hole and with a tiny jack, Hold the valve up................>>>
Bob
YES, I have done the rope trick!

 

I've done it too. I think I used about 8 feet of rope, Put the piston maybe 20 degrees before tdc, stuff the rope in there leaving a tail of it to pull out, gently turn up to tdc with socket on crank, or until you feel the rope being crushed and can't turn it further. Should be ok to remove spring.

 

If you haven't done this before, the valve locks can be "stuck" in the keeper.

A tap on the "retainer" with a brass drift just before compressing the spring can loosen them.

After reinstalling the keepers on reassembly, a gentle brass drift blow on the "valve" can ensure the locks are seated.

Occasionally one flies apart but its better then, than after the Engine is running.

Rope should be in place during all "brass drifting"

Thanks
Randy

 

Rope works great.....until it gets a knot in it...

What I do: get the piston for the offending cylinder close to TDC [ so that the valve can not fall in ].
I use a on old flat blade screwdriver that I bent the shaft at about 30*. This goes in the spark plug hole & the flat tip contacts the valve head, holds it in place. Remove springs. Wrap some tape on the driver shaft if you are worried about damaging the plug hole threads.

 

I used the rope method when I did it a few months ago. One thing I noticed is the type of rope makes a difference. Larger diameter, softer (more compressible) rope does not work as well as a smaller tighter variety. The more rope you use the more it will compress so experiment with the length (shorter may be better in this case). The rope compression allows the valve to go down a little more than you would like but it should still work. Compress the valve until it's tight and then give a little shot on the retainer with a small hammer and it will break the keepers loose. I also read some guys use old plug wires which may work better than rope. Have a magnet ready to grab those keepers, don't loose them! I stuffed some rags in the oil return holes in the heads before I started to prevent any "oh crap" moments of seeing a keeper fly down there. Good luck, you can do it

 

The first time I did this I was using a borrowed compressor that stopped working about halfway through the valve seal replacement.The 2nd time i skipped borrowing the compressor and just used the vacuum hose method to replace a set of valve springs.

If the piston's close to TDC you will use much less rope than if the pistons down in the bore.So first use a long skinny screwdriver to feel for the piston.Then with the piston close,just feed in the rope then turn the crank so the piston goes up the rest of the way.
One thing I've done is compress the spring with the type that grabs the spring and push down on the spring with the compressor still hooked up to the spring.This will let the whole thing drop down about 3/8 of an inch or so.Then with the rope in the cylinder turn the crank and you will see the valve get pushed up by the rope.Then just finish replacing the springs and the guide seals right ?You don't want to have to do this twice
One other thing, I used about a 4 foot length of vacuum hose and that made it go much smoother as the vacuum hose is easier to push into the spark plug hole.

 

I have done this with 1/4" nylon rope, with the piston at the bottom of the stroke it took more than 20' of rope to hold both valves up after rotating the engine, I like to do it this way because I am sure the valves are fully supported with no chance to drop down. I now carry a roll of rope in my car toolbag in case I break a valve spring on the road (happened twice).

 

I did the compressor method if I was to do again would pull the heads and use the right tool would be faster I think

 

You guys are nuts putting 20' of rope in a cylinder. Bring the piston up 1/2 to 3/4 way or so before you insert fill. I use 12" or so ( INCHES) of plug wire, which I silicone so its slippery. Only issue was once the plug wire got pinched somehow ( it is fairly large dia for the job) , but it worked out. Have I been lucky feeding the wire in when the slug is coming up on TDC all these times? Its the way I was shown to do it in the 70's.

AS said before, I run down and whack each valve with a rubber mallet to "loosen" the locks and again on assembly to "set" them. Why? Donnow, its the way I was shown to do it.

Also always have a magnetic tip machinists scribe or other mag tipped instrument handy to fish for locks. Yes, one dropped in the valley once, but it was sort of easily fished out. BE CAREFUL! I find it also helps reinstall them. So the scribe is as much a part of the job as the Lisle spring compressor.

If I pulled the heads, I'd do a damn valve job, or at least a re-lap. THAT IS NOT A SHORTCUT! Costs a set of head gaskets to boot.

 

I did this and had no issues. I used more of a white nylon clothesline-type rope. It was very clean. I would not use a rope that looks like this (see picture of brown rope below) and could leave a lot of strings behind.

Inserted a few feet and then rotated engine with a breaker bar on the crank bolt until it stopped.

 

I used the white nylon rope as well. Exhaust valve remained to be very troublesome. For whatever reason, it just wouldn't bundle the rope under the exhaust valve. I tried all sorts of different lengths.