I did not heat the spring first. I don't even know how I would have, heated just the last 1/2 inch of coil I needed to work with. But I agree with your concern, which is why I did not go to 90deg. Stopped bending at around 80deg. Good enough to engage the hole in the body. I did examine the bend area and did not see any cracking or damage. Used a 10x jeweler's loop.

Remember the guy who jumped off the Empire State Building - when passing the 44th floor he said "Everything's going just fine, so far". Well, many miles down the road and Everything's going just fine, so far.