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Replacing Piston Rings......HELP Please.


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The thing with newer cars vs. the '50s and '60s is you don't seem to get as much ridge on them. I don't think I'm imagining this.
That's Datsun engines, not engines in general. You may not need the ridge reamer with a Datsun engine. On the other hand if there is enough ridge, its easy to break the rings when installing the piston... don't force it.

 

 

How are you going to clean the block after the honing? It should be washed with soap and water, and wiped with a paper towel, then repeated until the towel doesn't get dirty from the wipe. Tide powder detergent used to be recommended.

 

You will also need to wash all the honing grit off the crankshaft and bearings. To do this in the car, you may need to (after washing the cylinders thoroughly) remove each bearing and wash each thoroughly. The grit undoubtedly will get down the side of the bearings.

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Now one question.....what is the rules for breaking in the new rings and bearings?? You know, the do's and dont's. Thanks again!

 

Here is a great article on breaking in motors. This applies to ALL engines. 'Back in the day' this would kill a motor fast, but motors are different now. Your dad will say drive it easy for the first 500 miles. Wrong! Warm it up, make sure it is full of oil and tuned ready to go and LEAN ON IT!!!. Not 8,000 RPM shifts or anything. Just make that L WORK hard.

 

Anyway, read the article a couple of times.

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Here is a great article on breaking in motors. This applies to ALL engines. 'Back in the day' this would kill a motor fast, but motors are different now. Your dad will say drive it easy for the first 500 miles. Wrong! Warm it up, make sure it is full of oil and tuned ready to go and LEAN ON IT!!!. Not 8,000 RPM shifts or anything. Just make that L WORK hard.

 

Anyway, read the article a couple of times.

 

 

i think ya forgot the link mike :D

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I did not pull the motor, So the tools I used were:

 

4" cylinder honing tool

153o3zq.gif

 

Sockets: 3/8"= 19mm, 17mm, 14mm, 12mm, 10mm, 10mm allen socket for the head bolts, swivel socket, 3" extension & 5" extension, spark plug socket.

 

Torque wrench 3/8" (long handle click stop)

21mf8yu.gif

 

Standard 3/8" ratchet (you all have seen these)

 

Piston ring compressor 4"-7"

2ztep89.gif

 

Pully puller (for the main pully)

fuvzo7.gif

 

Tie rod separator (for removing the steering tie rod)

28i536g.gif

 

Piston ring plyers (I never figured out how to use this one) :lol:

ly90m.gif

 

Screwdrivers, flat and phillips 4" & 6"

 

Scraper for getting the old gaskets off.

 

Plastigage

13zr8ya.jpg

 

Feeler guage for measuring end gap and ring clearance.

 

Micrometer for measuring tolerances.

 

I think that was it....I may have used a couple of other common tools.

 

I also purchased a engine gasket kit with everything. It was better than not having what I needed.

 

I used the Permatex spray copper gasket stuff as well as the ultra copper and ultra black gasket makers.

 

Piston rings and rod bearings.

r2tfli.jpg

1zwfevm.jpg

 

I purchased standard size rings and bearings. But that was because I measured the cylinder walls, pistons, and crankshaft journals for tolerance.

 

Lucas oil stabilizer and assembly lube.

 

Quakerstate with slick 50.

 

New oil filter and fuel filter.

 

Get a compression tester to check compression before you start and after you complete the rebuild to make sure everything is good.

 

I did most of my shopping for parts on Rockauto and tools I got from Harbor Freight Tools. The total cost for me was around $225.00 for everything...including the beer. lol

 

I had her finished in 10 hours including breaks. I hope this helps someone else.

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Here is a great article on breaking in motors. This applies to ALL engines. 'Back in the day' this would kill a motor fast, but motors are different now. Your dad will say drive it easy for the first 500 miles. Wrong! Warm it up, make sure it is full of oil and tuned ready to go and LEAN ON IT!!!. Not 8,000 RPM shifts or anything. Just make that L WORK hard.

 

Anyway, read the article a couple of times.

 

 

Exactly. My builder told me to "drive it" change the oil every 100 for the first 500 then again at 1000 and it is done. I never babied it, yet I did not try to tear it up either. Btw I too have replaced a piston while it was in the truck.

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Here is a great article on breaking in motors. This applies to ALL engines. 'Back in the day' this would kill a motor fast, but motors are different now. Your dad will say drive it easy for the first 500 miles. Wrong! Warm it up, make sure it is full of oil and tuned ready to go and LEAN ON IT!!!. Not 8,000 RPM shifts or anything. Just make that L WORK hard.

 

Anyway, read the article a couple of times.

 

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

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Personally, I use Hasting rings, as they tend to be the right hardness for Datsun blocks. Drive easy for 50-70 miles, preferably a 30 minute sustained trip to break in the engine, with plenty of gear changes. Nothing past about 3500 rpm though. After that, romp it.

 

As far as the piston hone, I don't use those, it's too easy to take off a lot of material. I use a bottle brush. (Big pipe cleaner like thing with abrasive balls all over.) Little more expensive ($60), but well worth it I think.

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Couple questions..

 

Would it be beneficial to use a stone hone and then a dingleberry/flex hone?

 

What did you use for lubricating/cutting oil?

 

What did you end up doing to clean out the shavings and other "trash"?

 

Going to do mine soon!

 

I would have used the "dingleberry" one if I had one. I used the stone hone.

 

I soaked the stones in brake fluid first, then repeatedly applied WD-40 to cylinder walls and stones.

 

I covered the crankshaft with a plastic surgical drape before I started, then cleaned cylinder walls with detergent and hot water after honing.

 

I hope this helps...and good luck! Be sure to take pics and post them. :D

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I've used the cylinder hone in the past too. When done I wiped out the bore with mineral oil on a clean cloth. When you can wipe the bore with a clean white cloth, and it comes out without smudges on it... you're good.

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  • 1 month later...

Datsun engine blocks are tough and the factory piston rings are chosen accordingly. Wear occurs primarily on the rings, not the walls. I rebuilt my type R, 1600 cc, at 120,000 miles and measured only 5 thousands wear on the block. That's one reason Datsun only stocked original rings, you couldn't get 20 thousands over thru the dealer. You needed to go to a rebuilder who would overbore and supply aftermarket ring sets. Later things changed for the racers,think 40 thousands over 2 liter forged pistons in a type R with the 2 liter crank and rods [this kit used to be available thru NISMO in the 80s.]

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 months later...
I did not pull the motor, So the tools I used were:

 

 

Plastigage

13zr8ya.jpg

 

 

Ok I am not familar with the plastigauge. I am about to reassemble my engine (never done this) and want to do it right.

1. Where do I get one?

2. How is it used.

 

3. my engine is .040 over. How do I check the gap for the piston rings or does this stay the same?

 

I may have more questions through this process so bear with me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would never have tried this. Of course I can pull my motor and trans in about 1.5hrs. I would be far too afraid of premature bearing failure due to metal debris.

 

If anyone has ever worked with marine blocks they almost never have ring ridge, due to high nickel content that limits the wear.

 

Plastigage is easy to get, just ask whoever you get your rings from. I would change my oil more than required due to the inability to wash the block, especially the 1st 30min of run time.

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Good thread, all I will add is try for a 45 degree angle on your cross hatch, takes a bit of practice with speed of drill and the ol' in an out stroke. Also I like the ball type hone but a good std. one does fine too. When done honing I take dish detergent and hot hot hot soapy water and wash the clyinders down then blow dry and wipe down with Marvel mystery oil or they will rust instantly, this gets rid of all the particals. You can use a couple cans of brake cleaner in a pinch.

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  • 3 weeks later...

That's exactly what's in the kit. For a 4-cyl, that's 4 sets of oil rings, 8 compression rings, and 8 valve stem seals.

 

Of course, you also need a need gasket kit (or piece together the necessary gaskets) which pretty much means the whole engine. Which also comes with the valve stem seals.

 

 

The best way I have found to check ring gap is to stick EACH ring in the bore you're going to install it in (individually), push the ring down with the piston (that keeps it level) so that it is in its normal travel area, then measure with a feeler blade. You do NOT want overly tight clearance... you'll break a ring, break a piston ring land, and/or gouge the cylinder walls. On engines that get hot (like racing or engines set up for performance above the factory spec) you want rings a little looser (more gap).

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Damn that's a lot more than i thought i was going to pay for rings... :blink:

 

oh well

 

 

edit: wait a minute. A piston ring set is 28-38 bucks and valve seals are about 12 bucks... why the hell is the ring kit so high? All i can think is that it includes a gasket kit, which is about 72 bucks.

Edited by Madness
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Email from rock auto!

 

Dear Bart,

 

Thank you for the email. I can certainly tell you what is included with this

kit. Here is a breakdown for you:

 

-Connecting Rod Bearing Set (Sealed Power Part # 4-67230CP)

-Economy Piston Ring Set (Sealed Power Part # E-366X)

-Gasket Kit (Sealed Power Part # 260-1060: Includes valve stem seals)

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

 

Thank you!

 

Justin O

RockAuto Customer Service

 

phone: (608) 661-1376

fax: (608) 836-5694

toll-free: 1-866-ROCKAUTO (1-866-762-5288)

http://www.rockauto.com

 

 

 

even more than i thought.

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