Continued from above:
9. now you need to remove the spring. Use the stick and put in through the valve adjusting hole in the end of the valve rocker arm (check the PICTURE). SLOWLY move the crankshaft counter clockwise and at the same time push on the stick to force the valve into the cylinder. This way you move the valve down to make enough room to remove the spring. BE CAREFUL because you can go too far and shove the valve into the head and the only way to get it out is to take the head off... Danger! Danger Will Robinson! (flailing arms)
10. remove the spring and spring retainer
11. remove the old valve stem seal by prying the bottom with a big flat-bladed screwdriver followed by pulling on it with pliers. Be careful not to scratch the valve stem.
12. put oil on new vavle stem seal and gently slide it over the valve and push it down until it stops. Now use a socket ( I used a 1/4 inch drive Craftsman 12mm socket) to push the stem seal into place - check the PICTURE. It doesn't take much force, you will feel some clicks as it pops into place. Just to make sure its on I will try to pull it with my fingers after I'm done pushing. Sometimes the seal can go on crooked. That means that one side is not pushed on all the way. I push on all sides to make sure this doesnt happen.
12. put the spring and spring retainer back on
13. the TRICKY PART!!! Rotate the crankshaft clockwise again. You need to force the valve back up all the way so you can install the valve keepers. What happened to me on most of the valves is the valve would not go all the way up! I think that when I made the valve go down, some of the rope got between it and the valve seat and prevented it from being pushed up all the way. So to fix this I had to lower the cylinder by rotating the crankshaft counter clockwise, take out the rope, and then pull the valve up with some needle nose pliers. I had to pull the valve up with the pliers by reaching through the spring coils to grasp the valve stem. And then re-insert the rope and rotate the crank clockwise to force the rope up on the bottom of the valve to keep it in place as you compress the spring and install the valve keepers.
Installing the keepers is nasty business. I have a bad back so I had to take many rest breaks because I had to bend over the fenders. It takes patience and good light. My wife held the light as I finessed the keepers into place. This is not my first time with keepers so I knew what to expect. For a first timer, it will be pretty tricky because space is limited due to the rocker arms in the way.
First I make sure I have the spring compressed enough. Then I place the keeper on the retainer. Then I get a knife or other thin tool to manipulate the keeper into position. Sometimes, there's only enough space to get one keeper on easily. If this is the case, I install that keeper, and then rotate it to the side that is difficult to leave the easy side open. Then I install the next keeper on that newly opened easy-side.
VOILA! You have new stem seals without removing the rocker arm assembly!