Abstract: The pulling tool has a handle attached to a housing and a lever pivotally attached to the housing. The lever controls a feed pad which applies an upward force to a shaft which slides freely through a bore in the housing in a direction generally perpendicular to the handle. At the end of the shaft is a cone and which cooperates with at least two toothed claws which are pivotally mounted on a lower extension of the housing. Each claw is sloped on its inner edge to cooperate with the sloped edge of the upper part of the cone so that, as the cone moves upward, the claw pivots so that the toothed portion of the claw is forced outward. The cone and claws are selected to fit closely within the opening in the insert. When the lever is depressed, the shaft is lifted, pulling up on the cone which causes the teeth of the claws to penetrate the metal of the insert on its inner diameter to firmly lock into the insert.

Abstract: A spindle with a self-centering grip, or collet, and one or more pilots that the grip may engage. The grip has radially expandable and contractible portions for engaging a pilot between them. The pilot is inherently centered in the spindle because the gripping forces are equally distributed around the pilot. Each pilot consists of two adjacent, coaxial cylindrical guide portions of different diameters. A set of such pilots can be provided where each guide portion of each pilot has a diameter that is different from that of every other guide portion of the pilots in the set. The guide portion diameters may correspond to the diameters of the valve guides of particular engines or may increase incrementally over a predetermined range. A pilot can thus be selected from the set to fit the valve guides of a particular engine.

Abstract: The vacuum tester has a housing which is small enough to be held in one hand in which is contained a small vacuum pump, an activator switch and a vacuum gauge. A non-return flap valve, or check valve, is disposed between the vacuum pump and the vacuum gauge so that the vacuum within the chamber under test is not lost once the vacuum pump has been turned off. A connector with a vacuum hose extending therefrom is provided to apply the vacuum to the chamber. Interchangeable adapters can be attached at the end of the vacuum hose to provide a seal with the opening in the chamber. Detection and quantization of leaks in closed systems is provided by observing the leak-back rate on the vacuum gauge once the vacuum pump has been turned off.

Abstract: The detached cylinder head is placed on a table or other flat surface which has a recessed area within which is retained a deformable elastic bladder. Air, water or some other fluid is introduced into the bladder causing it to expand so that it conforms to the chambers within the cylinder head. The pressure of the expanded bladder within the chamber forces the valve upward against the valve seat. Once the valve is pressed upward against the valve seat, the valve can be disassembled by depressing the spring and removing the fastener, so that the spring can be removed, or the spring can be put in place and the valve reconnected.

Abstract: The detached cylinder head is placed on a table or other flat surface which has a recessed area within which is retained a deformable elastic bladder. Air, water or some other fluid is introduced into the bladder causing it to expand so that it conforms to the chambers within the cylinder head. The pressure of the expanded bladder within the chamber forces the valve upward against the valve seat. Once the valve is pressed upward against the valve seat, the valve can be disassembled by depressing the spring and removing the fastener, so that the spring can be removed, or the spring can be put in place and the valve reconnected.

Abstract: The gripping tool has a base consisting of a flat ring onto which are mounted three posts extending upwardly therefrom. Rotatable and slidable clips with magnets are mounted on at least two of the posts to capture the loosened key bolts. A plate is attached to the top of the posts and a clip may extend upwardly therefrom to permit attachment of an adapter for use with a drill press. The flat ring is centered over the top of the valve stem and key bolt and rests on top of the upper cup which presses against the top of the ring which retains the spring. Force applied to the top of the tool presses down on the upper cup to release the key bolt.

Abstract: The method of facilitating assembly and disassembly of valves in a cylinder head uses a gripping tool which has a base consisting of a flat ring onto which are mounted three posts extending upwardly therefrom. Rotatable and slidable clips with magnets are mounted on at least two of the posts to capture the loose key bolts. A plate is attached to the top of the posts and a clip may extend upwardly therefrom to permit attachment of an adapter for use with a drill press. The flat ring is centered over the top of the valve stem and key bolt and rests on top of the upper cup which presses against the top of the ring which retains the spring. Force applied to the top of the tool presses down on the upper cup, compressing the spring to release the key bolt. For re-assembly, a centering ring holds the spring centered with the cam bucket bore, providing the contact surface for the flat ring.