file fitting my rings

[winstoninwisc]

what or how do I know when I have taken enough off my ring for proper fit , I just lost 2 pistons and a few good mopar guys said it looked more like a to large of file fit ring please let me know when I have enough cutoff for proper heat expansion . .010 0r we talking .oo1 please help so I donot do this again I amlearning to build small block mopar but never got this deep . I diddo a lot of snowmobile engines back in the 80s and 90s .luckly I gotno wall damage but did get metal melt on inner head and exhaust valve putting together this week I hope to do it rite figure 700.00 blowand loss of fun and tune night at the car fights grudge racing if you were ready . well earley Friday I wasn't no more, could have been a lot worse

 

[Lustle]

Follow to manufacture directions. Whatever they say is what I would do. I know a lot of guys thought KB pistons were crap cause the top's kept coming off. Turned out their machinists and engine builder filled the ring gap to what they thought was best, not what KB recommended. And that caused the problem.

Follow the manufacturer directions and you should be fine.

 

[crackedback]

Minimum ring gap for a KB Hyper piston in a 360 would be in the .026 range. If you go with a more aggressive app, say drag racing N/A, the gap goes to .030-.032.

If you ran them at .016-.018 like most ring manufacturers suggest, they will all meet an untimely death.

 

[raymond]

I lost a piece from the top of a piston almost identical to the above pic. and it had .026" plus gap on a 4.030" bore. Cut your losses and go to a decent forged piston.

 

[jimjimjimmy]

hey Winston good advice here. if your not sure how to file fit rings go to youtube there is lots of vids on the subject. good luck .

 

[JBurch]

When fitting rings, push one down into the hole you're fitting it to, square it up with a piston, measure gap with feeler gauges. If you don't have a ring filer, you can use a hand file clamped in a vice, square yourself up to the file and drag the ring over the file, ALWAYS file front to back on the ring! Take a couple of swipes, put the ring back in the hole, square up and measure again with feeler gauges. Do this till you get the gap you want. De-bur all edges of the ring prior to final installation.

 

[AJ/FormS]

I wouldn't try this without at least a hand-cranked bench-top filer.Those rings are incredibly hard. If you limit all your filing to the same side, your gap can be straightened as you go.
Start fitting in the smallest hole.And move to the largest.
Do not go straight to the target gap. Go 2 or 3 less on all of them. That will give you lots of practice. Then go to a thou under;all of them. That way if you goof, you can put the fat gap in the small hole, and recover.Finally sneak up on the target.
Try and use the same push-pressure and count the cranks.By the 4th hole you will be spending less time fitting. By the 8th hole you will be spending less time cranking. By the last hole your push thumb will be screaming for mercy.Take a break.
If your second rings are also file fit,start with those.

 

[toolmanmike]

I wouldn't try this without at least a hand-cranked bench-top filer.Those rings are incredibly hard. If you limit all your filing to the same side, your gap can be straightened as you go.
Start fitting in the smallest hole.And move to the largest.
Do not go straight to the target gap. Go 2 or 3 less on all of them. That will give you lots of practice. Then go to a thou under;all of them. That way if you goof, you can put the fat gap in the small hole, and recover.Finally sneak up on the target.
Try and use the same push-pressure and count the cranks.By the 4th hole you will be spending less time fitting. By the 8th hole you will be spending less time cranking. By the last hole your push thumb will be screaming for mercy.Take a break.
If your second rings are also file fit,start with those.

And be careful. A few too many cranks with a new ring filer will take too much off. Don't ask me how I know. As said double check with the piston manufacturer. Too little gap will cause problems.

 

[moper]

I use a cheap Summit ring filer. I'm careful, but I've overdone it before - it does happen quickly. You file, put it in the bore and square it with the piston an inch or so down int he bore, and use feeler gages to measure the gap. Then remove, re-file, repeat until it's right. I use KBs a lot. You have to file them properly, and depending on the actual ring material (i.e. Total Seal vs Speed Pro vs Childs & Akerly) the gaps may need to be adjusted. This is for the top ring gap. The second ring gap should be the std ".004" per inch of bore" plus .008".