AMI F-120 Selector Springs - adjust?

[Steve W]

Having a ball restoring my "rough" F-120. Expect I will have earned a degree in mechanical engineer when complete.   My current problem is, despite a thorough and effective cleaning of the selector finger assembly, some of the fingers require a lot more force to reset the finger than others. With the finger assembly removed, the springs are obviously not aligned with one another and all show some wear. Do I try to adjust the springs or do I need to concentrate on the getting the contact surfaces clean and smooth? My earlier cleaning has stripped all visible oil or crud from the fingers and springs. There is no resistance to movement until I reinstall the finger bank into the magnet bank.

[Ron Rich]

Hi Steve,
"---adjust" a spring--" ?? IMHO there is no "adjusting" that can be done to any spring. As far as I know, a good spring maker/designer, plans the amount of motion a spring should move, and it's resistance or pulling power over the length of that move. Cutting-- stretching, are the only things that can be done to a spring, and in my experience always leads, to failure. If the spring pressure is too much, you are most likely going to need to replace the ones that are causing the problem. Ron Rich

[Steve W]

Thanks, Rich. The leaf springs may have gotten stiffer over time but I guess that is unlikely. It is probably more of a friction problem due to pitting of the mating surfaces. I'll try gently buffing the part of the leaf spring that is "wiped" by the end of the selector finger and see if that helps. I could apply a little lubricant as a test but in the long run that would just invite more problems. I'll post my results.

[Ron Rich]

Steve,
A Teflon, spray-on, powered type, lubricant, may just do the "trick"-- once surfaces are free of pits ?? Ron Rich