What is a Valve Spring Coil Bind and how does it relate to spring travel and valve lift?
When the valve spring is compressed until its coils touch one another and can travel no further, it is said to be in coil bind. The catalog shows the approximate coil bind height for the various Crane Cams valve springs. To measure this you must install the retainer in the valve spring, then compress the spring until it coil binds. Now measure from the bottom side of the retainer to the bottom of the spring. This measurement is the coil bind height. This can be done on the cylinder head with a spring compression tool (part number 99417-1), in a bench vise, or in a professional valve spring tester.