Piston rings help please

[newdsmtnr96]

hey guys, I just got my block back from the machine shop, however the guys didn't install the piston, I'm not sure why i asked them and they said that they just don't do that there i told them i would give them extra money and they said still they wouldn't do that here....so as I'm trying to do this myself,can you give me opinions on if the rings are installed correctly. I have heard that...one you can install the ring in the cylinder and then use a spark plug gapper to fix the gap, Next i read on a forum that you can install the ring in the cylinder and as long as they are not too close like 1/8 of a inch to install the rings and go...any help would be great. Thanks
Lance

 

[BigRand]

Hey lance, you already know who this is.....don't forget to add the pictures, and next time post this in the regular section....don't worry it about it now, I'm sure paul or somebody will move it.

 

[newdsmtnr96]

Yeah sorry about that here are some pics.. thanks Bigrand

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[newdsmtnr96]

if this helps it was bored .20 over.

 

[newdsmtnr96]

talon20g
New Member


Car: 92 Talon TSi
From: Raleigh, North Carolina
Region: Mid Atlantic
Registered: Mar 2007
Posts: 46
Trader Rating: (0)
Reputation: Piston rings

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A rule of thumb for a street motor is the gap should be .004 gap for every cubic inch. In your case the gap for the top ring should be .013 to .014 and the second ring should have slightly more gap. For your application I'd go .016 for the second ring. You have to buy a ring file to file them or the backyard way is to stick a file in a vice and butt the ends of the ring up to the end of the file and push back and forth gently checking gap every few strokes. Also check the ends of the rings for an uneven gap by pressing the end together and making sure the fit together flush. The way to check gap is to put the ring in the CYLINDER IT WILL GO IN FOR THE FINAL BUILD (very important) and push it down with the piston about 2 to 4 inches to square the ring up in the cylinder. Next you have to have a feeler gauge and measure the gap in the ring and go from there. Only the top ring and second ring has to be gapped. As for the oil ring expander it should be installed first with the opening 90 degrees from either wrist pin and the ends CAN'T be overlapped the ends should butt up. If they are overlapped the car will burn oil. Now the oil rails that go on the top and the bottom of the oil expander ring should go on they have to be 180 degrees away from each other and 90 degrees away from the end of the oil expander ring, in other word place them over the wrist pins. This should be all the info you need. You might want to post this for others to read since I'm a new member and can't seem to post there. Have any other questions pm me.

 

[pooker]

This is not going to be a boosted motor is it?

 

[2qik4u]

I have recently fully built a 420a with the guidance of doug alexander. he is 42 years into building hi perf engines and when we set my ring gap it was on a set of wiseco 8.8:1 forged and coated pistons. ring pack from wiseco for these pistons was part # 8800xx this is for a 20 over bore. to figure out what your ring gap is supposed to be you may use a calculation provided by wiseco which I will give you straight off there guide sheet. for high perf street/strip you want todo a calculation of bore size multiplied by .0045 for example your bore at 20 over should be 3.465 so you times that by .0045 to get a gap of .015 for the top ring. now for the second ring you times your bore by.0055 to get a second ring gap of .019. this is for non turbo...... for a turbo nitrous application you want to do first ring at bore x .0050 and second ring at bore x .0055. this is what I used and my rings are seated awesome. when you file your rings make sure ends of ring are square to cylinder wall no taper to gap from inside of ring to outside of ring and don't make the same mistake my brother made by not deburring where you have filed the gap. he only had to swipe ring on file 2 or 3 times per side and left burrs big enough to score cylinder walls causeing 20% blow by. this was very detrimental to his engines performance and I had to bore his block to 40 over from 20 over to correct this problem. if you can feel anything with your fingernail either on rings or in cylinder wall you are going to cause damage. to deburr rings just very very lightly drag across file till all is smooth. if it feels like it is catching on file keep going. any more q,s just ask!!!! sincerely, 2qik4u