Prefence on piston rings?

[GJCAT427]

Getting ready to build a tunnel port for the Galaxie. I have used every thing from cast to moly rings over the yrs. I`m wondering what you guys use and prefer? This puppy will see street and strip duty so whats the preference?

[gt350hr]

   A good barrel face , plasma moly ring is hard to beat. Not "all" moly faced rings are the same. Speed Pro has always been a leader in premium top rings.

[jayb]

The most modern ring packages have the thinnest rings, typically 0.9mm or 1.0mm top and second, and a 2.0mm oil ring package.  Top ring steel, second ring Napier.  Supposedly they seal up real well and reduce drag substantially; seems to me that Barry R has used some recently with good results...

[andyf]

If you buy stroker pistons from Mahle they will come with a modern ring package. This is basically LS technology for a FE.

[blykins]

My 354C with a 1mm/1mm/2mm ring pack takes 7 lbft to turn the rotating assembly over, with cam and timing set.

I would at least go with a modern piston with a 1.5/1.5/3mm ring pack.  That’s what I send with all of my FE rotating assemblies. 

[gt350hr]

    The 1.5x1.5x3.0 is VERY popular these days. Some companies offer in their shelf piston line.  They certainly free up horsepower. The 1.0x1.0x2.0 ring pack offered by Mahle is gaining popularity too. My concern is oil control . 2.0mm is only .080 wide and leaves little space for the oil to flow through.

[Barry_R]

I use a lot of the 1.0-1.0-2.0 rings with excellent results and no complaints to date.

Think a 2.0mm hole wont flow oil?
That's a .0787 inch hole - bigger than we use as a cylinder head feed restrictor.
Try seeing how much you can hold in a screen colander... 

[gt350hr]

     I'm just TOO  old school! the groove starts out at .080 then you stuff two .020 wide rails in there and then the rest is taken up with the expander. Yes the napier design second ring helps a bunch. I haven't personally run less than a 3.0mm so I'll respect those who have used the 2.0mm and say it works. VERY low parasitic hp losses that's for sure!

[GJCAT427]

Ok I should have posted the piston specs before as they call out 1/16, 1/16, 3/16. The grove width is .0648, .0648, .1885. these are .020 over size Wisecos. Is there a metric ring pack in that range? Or should I stay with the SAE ring size? Thanks guys

[Falcon67]

I believe I used Hastings in that size, both the 351C and the 302 use older TRW forged.  Moly all the way.  Finish the cylinders for it and almost zero break in. Only use rings that fit your groove sizes.  Snd expect to spend well over $100 on a quality set. If you want to run a metric ring, IMHO buy new pistons.

[gt350hr]

Ok I should have posted the piston specs before as they call out 1/16, 1/16, 3/16. The grove width is .0648, .0648, .1885. these are .020 over size Wisecos. Is there a metric ring pack in that range? Or should I stay with the SAE ring size? Thanks guys

     As Chris said you must stick with the 1/16x1/16x3/16 rings. Metric grooves are .060x.060x.119. Th erings measure .058.5x.058.5x.116. While they would fit in the groove , you would have bad ring seal and top ring flutter for certain.

[blykins]

Stock eliminator ring spacers?

[Barry_R]

Unless you are a competitive race application - just purchase a normal set of 1/16-1/16-3/16 rings from a know supplier.  Plasma-moly on a ductile iron or steel alloy top.  Match your existing pistons.

Many of the rings you buy today are made by the same guys once you open the box - lots of companies just make labels anymore in that business.  Basic manufacturers include Hastings and Mahle - the latter likely to be a better quality product.

Speed-Pro no longer makes anything - they purchase from Hastings.  Total Seal used to buy individual rings from all across the globe to assemble more ring set variations and sizes than anybody else had - they modified rings to fill in the blanks.  Not sure if they have ever moved to making them from scratch themselves but its certainly possible in the dozen years since I was in that business.  Perfect Circle no longer exists having been acquired by Mahle.

[scott foxwell]

1.5-1.5-3mm to 1/16-1/16-3/16 = not enough difference to worry about.
Like was said, stick with piston manufacturer size and just get a decent quality ring set.

[Mike Caruso]

Unless you are a competitive race application - just purchase a normal set of 1/16-1/16-3/16 rings from a know supplier.  Plasma-moly on a ductile iron or steel alloy top.  Match your existing pistons.

Many of the rings you buy today are made by the same guys once you open the box - lots of companies just make labels anymore in that business.  Basic manufacturers include Hastings and Mahle - the latter likely to be a better quality product.

Speed-Pro no longer makes anything - they purchase from Hastings.  Total Seal used to buy individual rings from all across the globe to assemble more ring set variations and sizes than anybody else had - they modified rings to fill in the blanks.  Not sure if they have ever moved to making them from scratch themselves but its certainly possible in the dozen years since I was in that business.  Perfect Circle no longer exists having been acquired by Mahle.

Hi Barry,
I had some engineers that left FEL-PRO when Federal-Mogul bought FP in 1998 and went to work for this piston ring company http://www.riken.co.jp/english/pistonring/ now there is a history of the company and one of the guy's there I talked with put a Ring Museum on there too. You can look around and learn a lot. The one thing I can tell you is Total-Seal gets their rings made by Riken. I think everyone here will find this Ring Museum very nicely done. Glad I could help.
Best always Buddy,
Mike