Broken valve spring cylnder #4, Broken valve spring cylnder #4 Options

[vcolper]

Question:
Can I replace a broken valve spring (Cyl 4) while engine is mounted in car?
What tool?

Recommendations?

Thanks

[vcolper]

Hello,

First of all I want to thank you all for the responses and suggestions.
A little history on the car:

I purchased this 914 out of Virginia Beach VA, without seeing it in person. I live in North Port, FL so I had an old Navy buddy that lived close by have a look at it.
According to him all looked good, even the hell hole. Started quickly and drove ok.
So I purchased it. Got it home about 4-5 days later.
Things weren't exactly as my buddy described. The car did start and run ok. Gas pedal was broken, so I replaced it. Placed car on my lift and saw the RUST and some bad repair job. I was very frustrated with the bad repair job of hell hole with mostly Bondo and some fiberglass.
Later my buddy said he couldnt look under the car due to his bad back.

So I parked the car for another day. I drove it frequently around the block and eventually decided to sell it. During a test drive the car lost power...that didnt go well with the interested buyer. Still ran but had low power, misfiring and very rough idle.
Found no compression on cyl 4. Upon removing the valve cover found the cly 4 valve spring broken.
I dont know why it broke. Havent figured out how to place a pic here. Ive worked on Vanagon and other vw engines before so I was just gonna replace the spring and test the outcome.
I decided to drop the engine and repair it.
Now that the engine is off I can see the nightmare of bondo, fiberglass and some sheet metal. The rust repair needed goes from the battery tray mount to the jack point and rocker.
Ill be deciding what to do soon

[gtbarnes]

Hello,

First of all I want to thank you all for the responses and suggestions.
A little history on the car:

I purchased this 914 out of Virginia Beach VA, without seeing it in person. I live in North Port, FL so I had an old Navy buddy that lived close by have a look at it.
According to him all looked good, even the hell hole. Started quickly and drove ok.
So I purchased it. Got it home about 4-5 days later.
Things weren't exactly as my buddy described. The car did start and run ok. Gas pedal was broken, so I replaced it. Placed car on my lift and saw the RUST and some bad repair job. I was very frustrated with the bad repair job of hell hole with mostly Bondo and some fiberglass.
Later my buddy said he couldnt look under the car due to his bad back.

So I parked the car for another day. I drove it frequently around the block and eventually decided to sell it. During a test drive the car lost power...that didnt go well with the interested buyer. Still ran but had low power, misfiring and very rough idle.
Found no compression on cyl 4. Upon removing the valve cover found the cly 4 valve spring broken.
I dont know why it broke. Havent figured out how to place a pic here. Ive worked on Vanagon and other vw engines before so I was just gonna replace the spring and test the outcome.
I decided to drop the engine and repair it.
Now that the engine is off I can see the nightmare of bondo, fiberglass and some sheet metal. The rust repair needed goes from the battery tray mount to the jack point and rocker.
Ill be deciding what to do soon

I just had the same issue(rusted springs from sitting a long time) Just wondering if your valve was bent as a result. Mine broke at idle! Planning to put air pressure in it tomorrow and see. If it seals Im just going to replace all the springs with the in-car tool, I think!