On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:32:45 -0700, Oren wrote:

When the spring is tightened, the marks on the coils will off-set ...

I just belatedly realized another reason why I wouldn't trust a count
of spirals on a torsion spring.

Notice in this photo of my old & new springs, the painted blue line
doesn't even extend the full length of the spring.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/1...bce8c588_h.jpg

So, any count of spirals would be off.