Piston Rings


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Posted by Matt Wilson on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 7:07PM :

After only 200 miles of driving my Power Wagon with a 230 flathead 6, I discovered a broken second compression ring on the 5th piston.

I am wondering if any of you have ever had to re-ring an engine without honing the cylinders??

I plan to put in Perfect Circle rings from NAPA, which have a chromed top compression ring. (Actually the NAPA guy seemed to think they were chrome-moly, but I have my doubts, as I've heard that there aren't any chrome-moly rings manufactured for our flatheads.) The rings I had in there previously also had a chromed top ring. I am going with chromed rings because the factory spec calls for them, since it is for a truck application (more severe service than passenger car).

Consequently, I am going to return the set of Grant rings that I bought from VPW, because they are plain cast iron.

The cylinder walls all look fine, with no scoring, no gouges or anything of the sort. They look just like they did when I installed the first set of rings, with cross-hatching and all. There is no damage to the piston, either.

Am I running a great risk of not being able to properly seat and break-in the rings, by not honing the cylinders?

When I talk to machinists, I get conflicting opinions on this. I also get conflicting advice regarding the way to install the pistons/rings. Two machinists told me to use very little lube (almost no lube) on the rings and cylinder bores, as too much lube will inhibit the break-in process. Others told me to bathe everything in oil. What do you guys think??

Please advise.

Matt





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