Well, actually the answer is yes to his question. You can either use rope or air pressure, but not both.
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Pinky said to have the piston at TDC to stop the valve from falling through if you lose air pressure, but that won't hold the valve high enough to do the actual retainer swap (at least I didn't think so, haven't done it on this particular engine).
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Oh, right.

But someone did it by just using the piston? I wouldn't have guessed it. So how do you guys compress the valve spring to get the retainer locks on? Just push down against the piston/rope/air?
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Great info and tips on retainer swaps. Since the diy didn't have this info i had to assume. So having my cylinder at TDC explains why my valves didn't drop in cylinders one. The DIY also didn't say to take the needle out of compression tool (the part where you screw on to your Spark plug) to shoot air constantly in the spark plug.

The tool i used for my retainer swap was i used the auto zone OEM valve spring compressor tool without shaving it down. But i took my cams off and rocker assembly off to get enough room to wedge the OEM valve spring tool off of the springs. You could also use that bluepoint tool which saves tons of time but i got paranoid since it was hitting the valves. Didn't want to recover my valves from cylinders 4 which is all the way in the back.

 

Let's be clear...........NO YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT SOMETHING HOLDING THE VALVE SEATED. The valve will drop slightly down into the cylinder at the top of its stroke but not enough to put a retainer back on. Well maybe you could if you didn't touch the valve and used the friction of the sleeve to hold it there and did things ever so gently.(huge maybe there)

Many ways of doing it obviously air/rope are only 2. Using the OEM tool vs. the Bluepoint tool other options are out there too.

No matter what way you do it having the piston at the top of it's stroke will prevent you from fishing for a dropped valve.

 

Let's be clear...........NO YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT SOMETHING HOLDING THE VALVE SEATED. [/quote]

YES YOU CAN...with the piston @ TDC the valve will only drop a tiny amount, when you have the retainer on and the spring clamped you can fit the keepers easy, sometimes you have to lift the valve a whisker so it is fully seated, but you do not have to use rope/air (although it may make things easier)

 

As a heads up, it's a great plan to put the trans in a high gear and or put a socket against the crank pulley if you are using air. I didn't and the piston went to bottom as the crank rotated 180 degrees. My valve dropped in.

I will be doing my best to fish it out!

 

Air is air, whether at TDC or BDC. When I air the cylinder for retainer jobs, it frequently pushes the piston to BDC.

Did an exhaust or intake valve fall in?