Then would these be better than these? They look similar but I believe the gap might be different. Plus one is total seal and one is sealed power.
The Plasma-Moly will be perfect, don't worry about trying to get something you can't afford. What Greg said is true, you just need to order the ring for your specific piston, the ring thickness/depth must correspond to the ring grooves in the piston. It very unlikely that you would ever receive a piston that is exactly .040 over the standard bore. The last pistons I got were Probe and for a .030 overbore they .002 under that. That is the reason your machinist will take each piston, measure it against the bore............then hone to fit. As for the rings, .040 over rings will fit your .040 pistons and the .040 bore. I an not going to cloud the water by talking oversize rings because in your case whatever you purchase will be fine..................as long as they all fit together..................like the rings in the pistons..........................you will be fine............hopefully you trust your machinist and follow his directions. It never hurts to ask these questions of your machinist also...........IMHO
personally.. I only use total seals gapless stuff.. so I'm a bit brand biased in the first place. But based on those particular parts though.. I'd always lean towards a "file to fit" ring(which the total seal part is).. so they can be better optimized for the particular final bore size and intended power/rpm range. but.. my disclaimer is that I'm especially picky in any build that I do. TBH.. I don't even know who makes those parts anymore.. and I rarely just pick a part and bolt it on since there's always something to be improved on so many increasingly outsourced and cheaply made products these days.
Personally I would rather have "file to fit" rings rather than standard gap, but this does make more work for the machinist which equates to more hours and more money........................but you get a better performing motor because each cylinder is not exactly the same as the one before or after. I have always filed end gaps on rings to .0035 to .0040 per inch of bore, but on gapless type rings the gap is covered...............................hope that makes since to you.
Okay. Ill go with the file to fit ones. Honestly, I would love to go with hapless rings. I just can't afford twice the price. If I ever get the chance to add $100 to my budget I would definitely go with those maybe ill e able to find some cash lying around.. Or maybe ill sell something.
not trying to disagree.. because I do agree for the most part.. but it's always best to follow the mfgrs rec'd end gap spec's. They will be included in the instruction sheet.. or can be found on the mfgrs website.. or better yet.. call them to be sure. and that total seal set isn't gapless. If it was they'd probably be priced another $100 bucks higher.
I wouldn't stress about using them on a motor like this one. They're good for another 5-7 ft/lbs across the rev range and maybe 5 horse or so on youre combo.. so it won't be the end of the world if you can't swing the cost right now. If the motor had more compression and bigger cam.. they'd be making even more power and well worth the extra cash, IMHO. And later down the road.. they'd still be making more steam even as the bore opened up the gap as compared to regular rings. That's where they're worth their weight in gold as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah I know they're not gapless. I'm trying to find a gapless set that I can afford. But if I do get gapless then what are the steps I have to take before I can put them in the hole after they machine it. Because the way this shop works, it would cost me an extra $90 for an hours worth of work to fit the rings anyway.
Fitting a ring like TS gapless or one of the standard file to fit take about the same amount of time...................very little difference. So if the machinist was going to fit the pistons/rings it's kind of a wash. Read this; http://www.totalseal.com/pdf/ts_rings_article.pdf
Well then what would you suggest. I'm not sure if they're going to fit the piston rings for me or if they're going to charge extra for it. Ill just go with fitted I guess ad pay to have them gapped for me. Would that probably be my best bet then for a decent mild street engine.
Are they going to assemble the short block for you, or are they just going to do the machine work? If they are going to assemble the short block fitting the rings would be included, if not.....................then you will have to assemble the short block and part of that would be assembling the rings on the pistons..................but before you install the rings onto the pistons you actually fit them to each cylinder first. Just as a rule of thumb, if a machine shop assembles the short block.....................that can be from $500 to $1000 depending on how much time they spend on details.......................If you assemble the short block it's just your time..................but then you need to check everything the machine shop did, clearances on the bearings...........cylinder wall to piston clearance..............fit the rings............and on and on.................
They're just doing the machine work. I'm assembling it. Too much money for them to do it. Plus I like to think I can still do it.
Well, Ok.......................sounds like a fun time will be had. No, they will not fit the rings..............that will be up to you. So, just make sure you get plenty of oil, assembly lube, good torque wrench, and plastigauge for checking rod and main clearances, also a good feeler gauge for setting ring end gap.........................sounds like you will be having some fun!
Haha. A fun time will be had. Especially since I have to teach 2 people how to put an engine together. Anyways, most of the tools have been lost so looks like I'm gonna have to buy new stuff. Lol. So then how exactly do I file down the rings? Do I put it in, get a feeler guage and then file down the little gap until its about .008? And then the lower ring about .004?
Put em in, measure the gap, then if filing is needed, pull the ring out adn chuck it in a vise with just about a 1/4 " sticking up, then file away. Gap should be whatever the ring mfg says it should be.
