What was wrong with it?

 

nothing from the looks of it. I have the motor out because I am rebuilding the bike from ground up and I want to put a new head gasket on it to have that problem out of the way. so while the head is off I might as well do the head also with new springs, guides etc. while it is off.

 

They love Blowing their head gaskets

 

Other than a valve spring compressor, the other tools you will need are just common tools. Unless you are recutting the seats?

 

Put on ZX7 K, L or M model springs and retainers while you are in there. They are too light.

 

what is the difference exactly between these and the original that are in there?

 

9b engine has single springs and the 7 has double. It's rare, but I've seen both valve float as well as spring failure. It's a little higher spring rate and seat pressure. Cheap insurance.

 

Is there a difference in the shimming??

 

The head itself is interchangeable, only the cams and springs are different

 

Good to know! 1 of my spark plug hole threads melted away in 2004. Never fixed it. I basically have all the tools to do so since I had a 2001 Ford F150 SuperCrew with the 5.4L Triton motor that had a similar issue...a spark plug was frozen into the cylinder head. I had to pull the whole motor since the 1 bolt behind the head wouldn't loosen with a wrench. I didn't want to strip the bolt.

You can see my bike buried behind the orange shop press in the last pic.