Subject: Re: Treatment of Springs

From: [email-masked] (dal wagner)
Date: 12 Sep 1996 20:07:54 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Rob Skinner) says:
>
>My wife and I are restoring an old engine, and are a little worried about
>the treatment of the valve springs.  Would bead blasting have any
>deleterious effect on the spring steel?  Also, would there be any problems
>with plating the springs, specifically a tin/zinc plate from the Eastwood
>kit?  
>
>Any advise would be appreciated.
>
I think you would be better off shot peening the springs as opposed to
sand blasting unless you use a very fine grit or wallnut shells in the blast
process. 
Shot peening actually "work hardens" the outside skin of the spring
allowing you to load the spring to a higher level without overstressing it.