Buying individual piston rings
Discussion
Has anyone had any luck buying individual piston rings before?
Whilst refitting the last piston (surprise surprise) in my MGB engine the piston stopped dead. So I removed the clamp took the piston all the way back out, refitted the clamp then knocking it in I see a 1" piece of the second compression ring sat on the top of the block.
The rings I'm using are 'Grant piston rings' if anyone knows anyone who may be able to supply individual rings / rings for one piston.
I've emailed the company direct but being in the US I expect their postage to the UK to be very steep.
Hoping I won't have to pay out £40+ for another full set
Whilst refitting the last piston (surprise surprise) in my MGB engine the piston stopped dead. So I removed the clamp took the piston all the way back out, refitted the clamp then knocking it in I see a 1" piece of the second compression ring sat on the top of the block.
The rings I'm using are 'Grant piston rings' if anyone knows anyone who may be able to supply individual rings / rings for one piston.
I've emailed the company direct but being in the US I expect their postage to the UK to be very steep.
Hoping I won't have to pay out £40+ for another full set
Billy Hunt said:
Has anyone had any luck buying individual piston rings before?
Whilst refitting the last piston (surprise surprise) in my MGB engine the piston stopped dead. So I removed the clamp took the piston all the way back out, refitted the clamp then knocking it in I see a 1" piece of the second compression ring sat on the top of the block.
The rings I'm using are 'Grant piston rings' if anyone knows anyone who may be able to supply individual rings / rings for one piston.
I've emailed the company direct but being in the US I expect their postage to the UK to be very steep.
Hoping I won't have to pay out £40+ for another full set
I bought a single ring set from Childs and Alberts in the US once after breaking a ring.Whilst refitting the last piston (surprise surprise) in my MGB engine the piston stopped dead. So I removed the clamp took the piston all the way back out, refitted the clamp then knocking it in I see a 1" piece of the second compression ring sat on the top of the block.
The rings I'm using are 'Grant piston rings' if anyone knows anyone who may be able to supply individual rings / rings for one piston.
I've emailed the company direct but being in the US I expect their postage to the UK to be very steep.
Hoping I won't have to pay out £40+ for another full set
But at £40 for a full set, I'd hardly call it expensive. In fact, it would barely be worth the hassle of trying to source individual rings.
Surely there are rings available locally ?
Place I got the set from only does general MG bits so not expecting him to have any individuals (closed now so I can't phone him).
Sure £40 isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme but I am trying to save some money as costs are ever increasing, if I have to buy another full set it will be £80+ on rings alone
Sure £40 isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme but I am trying to save some money as costs are ever increasing, if I have to buy another full set it will be £80+ on rings alone
I would suggest the most important thing is to get a better ring compressor or develop a better technique using the one you've got. The most common mistake people make is placing the compressor too far down over the piston skirt. The skirt has a larger diameter than the ring land area so by the time you've tapped the piston far enough down the bore for the compressor to be over just the ring lands it's now loose, the rings protrude a bit and if you're sufficiently ham fisted - crunch.
Fit the compressor so it only just covers the oil ring and only nip it up. Obviously the top of the bores must be properly chamfered - another mistake people make when a block's been skimmed and lost its chamfer. Then at most very light taps should be ample to slide the piston down the bore if the compressor's not too tight and you've oiled everything. Even the slightest resistance should indicate a problem and you immediately stop. Breaking a ring is a cardinal sin. Normally I just push the piston down in one smooth movement with the wooden handle of a hammer. I don't even tap it. It isn't necessary if you've done things right and it more or less totally prevents any possibility of breakage.
Fit the compressor so it only just covers the oil ring and only nip it up. Obviously the top of the bores must be properly chamfered - another mistake people make when a block's been skimmed and lost its chamfer. Then at most very light taps should be ample to slide the piston down the bore if the compressor's not too tight and you've oiled everything. Even the slightest resistance should indicate a problem and you immediately stop. Breaking a ring is a cardinal sin. Normally I just push the piston down in one smooth movement with the wooden handle of a hammer. I don't even tap it. It isn't necessary if you've done things right and it more or less totally prevents any possibility of breakage.
Thanks for the votes of appreciation. Glad to be of help.
It's actually very easy to chamfer bores in cast iron blocks by hand rather than using machinery which is how I do mine. Take a round or half round medium cut file about 10mm in diameter and holding that at 20 degrees to the vertical work round each bore anticlockwise until you've created a straight chamfer about 1mm in length. I hold the file with a finger over the cutting part to guide it round the bore without slipping too far up or down.
Then take a small fine cut round file, I use a 3mm diameter needle file, and using a rolling motion blend the bottom of the first cut into the bore and the top into the gasket face. You should create an ellipse with rounded top and bottom edges and a finer surface finish than the first file left.
Finally you need a small length of 80 grit wet and dry paper cut off a 1 inch wide roll or out of a sheet cut into 1 inch wide strips. Using your thumb behind this and your index finger to grip the top of the emery and protect the gasket face you just work round horizontally to smooth out the shape you created with the files and remove any file marks.
The whole exercise only takes 10 or 15 minutes for a 4 cylinder block and leaves a perfect blended chamfer that eases piston rings smoothly down into the bore.
In production they just whack a 70 degree chamfering tool onto the block for a few seconds but by hand you can create a more sophisticated shape with no sharp edges to promote detonation and which gives you the satisfaction of applying craftmanship to your work.
It's actually very easy to chamfer bores in cast iron blocks by hand rather than using machinery which is how I do mine. Take a round or half round medium cut file about 10mm in diameter and holding that at 20 degrees to the vertical work round each bore anticlockwise until you've created a straight chamfer about 1mm in length. I hold the file with a finger over the cutting part to guide it round the bore without slipping too far up or down.
Then take a small fine cut round file, I use a 3mm diameter needle file, and using a rolling motion blend the bottom of the first cut into the bore and the top into the gasket face. You should create an ellipse with rounded top and bottom edges and a finer surface finish than the first file left.
Finally you need a small length of 80 grit wet and dry paper cut off a 1 inch wide roll or out of a sheet cut into 1 inch wide strips. Using your thumb behind this and your index finger to grip the top of the emery and protect the gasket face you just work round horizontally to smooth out the shape you created with the files and remove any file marks.
The whole exercise only takes 10 or 15 minutes for a 4 cylinder block and leaves a perfect blended chamfer that eases piston rings smoothly down into the bore.
In production they just whack a 70 degree chamfering tool onto the block for a few seconds but by hand you can create a more sophisticated shape with no sharp edges to promote detonation and which gives you the satisfaction of applying craftmanship to your work.
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