will it hurt. whats your opinion

trudysduster said

I dont know anything about this other than to get the cylinders bored and I dont want to go that far but I have a small ring wear at the top of the cylinder. I am going through this engine trying to keep it home to the original car. It is a 66 Valiant. slant 6. replacing rings, rod and main bearings, and after I got down this far I am replacing the camshaft, lifters. My question is I am going back with the same pistons. Will that ridge at the top be ok. I cant see that the new rings will get into it OR what is your opinion about using a ridge reamer to cut that ridge out. I have read both pro and cons about this and have never done it. If used will I lose compression. If I dont will the new rings hit the ridge and cause a problem. let me know what you think.

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Way back when they used ridge reamers so that you could remove the piston without damage to same. If your pistons came out without a problem then there is probably no reason to use the reamer. However, in some cases-not all, there can be interference between the small radius at the ridge & a new top ring which could cause problems. For me I would use the reamer if you can catch your finger nail under the edge of the ridge just for safety. As for compression loss: The slant 6 is a low compression engine so my guess is that the power loss would be undetectable. If you are re-using the old pistons check for clearance at the top ring groove. Insert (don't install) the new ring in the groove & see if it will rock excessively. You are checking to see if the ring groove is tapered (wider at the outside than the inside).