Moving to piston ring replacement

[teck_mountain]

Hello again

First, thanks to all of you for the help. it's been great.

I have all the pistons removed and cleaned. I may have lost the carbon edge on a couple of the pistons. Is this going to be a big deal?

Also, installing new rings. Any advice, trick or other helpful hints? My bores appear to be in good shape. They still have the XXX hatchings and I do not feel any nick, scratches or other type of damange. Should I check for any thing else?

[ratbyk]

Re-ringing

Even though you can still see crosshatch on the walls make sure that you de-glaze a bit. The new rings and the cylinders must re-seat to form a good seal. If you don't you will be down on compression/power and use more oil than necessary.
Make sure that you check and correct the butt gap clearance on your new rings. You need an absolute minimum of .004' per inch of bore. A little more than that will cost you very very little power but will ensure that the engine does not tighten up while you are stuck in traffic or running hard while the engine is still seating in.
Many ring sets have a top/bottom side on the compression rings. It is usually identified with a dot or a "T" on the top side. Make sure you get that right. Some rings are slightly chamfered on the cylinder wall-surface. Getting it wrong will cost compression/power. Install the new rings with their butt gaps opposite each other and in the piston pin area on the sides of the pistons.
Do a good job cleaning carbon out of the piston ring grooves. Any left could lead to engine seizer. The new rings need room to "grow" as the engine heats up.
Lub the cylinder walls/piston skirts/rings and grooves before slipping the cylinders back down. Excess oil at that time is a "good" thing.
Be patient, take your time, do things right, don't force anything.
Lots of luck.
Ken/Sooke78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"

[Ken Talbot]

Be sure to have a second set of hands available as you try to wiggle the cylinders back down over the pistons. Its not that they're all that heavy, but you will need some help keeping things lined up so nothing binds and breaks.

[TopCatGr58]

Not wanting to assume any level of your knowledge, and can't remember if you have a manual, .... you will need to put the rings inside the cylinders NOT on the pistons first, to check the ring end gap with a feeler gauge, and then file then so size as needed.

The bottoms of the cylinders are tapered, so it's just a matter of compressing the rings just slightly to allow the tapered lip to slide over the rings and then the pistons will slide inside the cylinders, as Ken said, lots of oil here is helpful and won't hurt a thing!! I only used my fingers/nails, and had the cylinders slightly tilted, and did the center 2 first, then the outer two, again slightly tilting the head so that I could get 1 piston most of the way in before trying to fit the other, and then just slid the jugs down!

On torquing the head nuts, I was surprised to read in the manual the suggestion of putting oil on the threads and contact surfaces of the nuts/studs prior to torquing, to allow better/accurate torque measurements vs. stiffness!! I used a light weight oil like WD-40. It also said to torque in only 2 steps, to 1/2 the amount, then repeat to the full amount, which is only 25ft/lbs for the upper ones, and only 14 for the two lower ones in the middle front and back of the head!!! I still did it my old way I learned in shop class, at 5 lb increments!! Then you want to fire the engine up and get it up to normal operating temps, then let it cool down, and then repeat the torque for a final sequence!!! Mine has held for going on 3 years now!

Good Luck. T.C.