68 Cuda 383 vs a 360

RustyRatRod said

All good points, but you know, I think maybe the biggest one....and feel free to chime in if you disagree is the modern thinner ring packs. That right there is what kinda unlocked some "free" power by reducing the heck out of friction. Because we all know the friction of the rings against the cylinders is THE biggest source of friction in a piston engine.

Click to expand...

If I could find a metric ring pack for a 4.375" bore they would be utilized. My go to for a stroker is either a 451" or 511" 400 based engine. Both of those utilize the 1.320 CH piston. On the more serious n20 stuff we use a ductile iron hellfire ring. I want to try this one:

AC 4.375" Hellfire Ductile Iron Ring Set, .017" Dykes top, 1/16" 2nd & 3/16" SS HT oil rings. (set) - Alan Johnson Performance Engineering

I like the idea of gaining meat between the top of the ring and piston crown however the .017" number scares me.

For reference:

1/16" = .0625 = 1.5875mm

.017" = .4318mm

That is a very thin top ring and I would think it would increase the maintenance intervals beyond the hobbyist level.

Maybe we will see some 1.0/1.0/3.0mm packs come out for 4.32 and 4.34" nominal bore size one of these decades.