Valve Spring Retainers Sold Singly???

[GrahamPaige29]

Hi guys.  I mangled a couple of my valve spring retainers for my '29 Graham Paige.  When I go to find replacements, they are sold in complete sets.  Anybody know a place that sells them one at a time and by size?

[Guest]

Find a long established machine shop, one of the machinists probably has a can/box full of odd ones.  Post a picture here of the one you have.  Maybe one of us has some in our whatzitfit boxes.

[GrahamPaige29]

Here's a picture of the part.

[Guest]

That photo should get you an answer.  When I first read your post I was thinking of the keeper or retainer.  This piece is called a cup by GM.  A case of a picture being worth a thousand words.

[keiser31]

Yep. I was surprised, too when I saw the photo.

[Spinneyhill]

A machinist could whip one up in a fairly short while if you are stuck.

[GrahamPaige29]

Maybe it's cheaper to get a machinist to make two of them.

 

[Guest]

The cups on my Pontiac are 1.275 od, the inner raised part is .878od, the height is .370 and the hole is .366.  I am attaching two pictures of mine so that you can see they are similar but probably not suitable as a substitute.  This just shows that there are many variations of these cups.  Some old time machinist or mechanic should be able to come up with a reasonable substitute even if they don't have an exact one.  I know we would all like everything to be absolutely correct but these specific pieces can be hard to find and there are surely others out there that would work.  I have found that sometimes showing what you need rather than giving the year and make is more effective.  Anything that doesn't show up in their computer is scary for some counter people. 

When I overhauled my engine the last time I used all Chrysler adjusters because you only need two wrenches to adjust them not three like my original ones.  Once again Good Luck in your search and restoration.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Guest (see edit history)