A fellow bolter just emailed me and asked how I stretched the brake return springs far enough to clasp over the upper pivot bolt. I kick myself a million times for not taking a picture of the tool in action that I've had sitting in my tool box for 10+years. Imagine a fish hook which fishermen used on fishing vessels to grapple the fish when they came in (yes Norselander, I did that also when I lived in your neighborhood).
The handle (aluminum) is 5" long. The shaft was a threaded rod which I heated and bent to make a hook. This devise was used by our company back when we mfg bicycle saddles here in the states. I always thought this tool might come handy someday, so I brought it home and stashed it away in my tool box.
These return springs require a lot of tension when installing them. Though it was a little more than expected, I was able to stretch these return springs without too much difficulty with this grappling tool. It reminds me of a dentist having a terrible time pulling a stubborn molar with one foot on the patient's face, just yankin that puppy out of there. That's kinda how I felt pulling these return springs into place.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/96669114/105129247bqbfEg
