The heat riser shaft is slotted for the straight part in the center of the spring (the left spring in your pic) on a 216 at least. Don't know about the 235. Maybe the center of the spring on the right in your picture just slips on the shaft and is held there by friction (doesn't seem like a very good idea to me however.)
I was able to bend my replacement spring without it breaking. It needed adjustment to bear against the stationary rod. But it had the proper bend in the center. It's not really a spring, but a bimetallic (two metals with different thermal expansion characteristics) strip wound up so that it coils tighter or looser when heated. The one I got was the Jeep one that Jerry pointed me to.
Check the shaft closely. There was part of the spring broken off in it that I had to dig out. I'm seeing that the one on the right is the older spring and may also have that tab broken off.
Last edited by klhansen; 06/22/2022 7:06 PM. Reason: responding to Jerry's post
