My 2 pence worth:
> Larry E. Snyder writes:
> >I've checked the bores on my Spit, and there are slight ridges at the top
> >of the piston travel. When I put new rings on my bad piston, are they doomed
> >to break?
> >The Haynes manual says to "step" the piston ring. What does that mean?
Mike Ladwig replied:
> Stepped rings have a bevel at the part of the ring that would collide with
> the ridge. Apparently, they were available when the cars were new so that
> dealers could do "quickie" ring jobs without worrying about ridges or
> finishes. From what I could find out, they aren't available any longer.
Stepped rings were certainly still available in the UK about 5 years ago
because I fitted them to my Herald. No
problems so far (famous last words, no doubt). They were made by a company
called Cord, so if you hear
someone say they've got Cords it doesn't mean a bit of string to hold their
trousers up!
If anyone is interested, I could check if they are still made for our cars.
However, IMHO they are really only a quick fix for a low to medium wear engine
with a low annual mileage, like
mine. They're no substitute for doing the job properly. (I also fitted them
to a Minivan many years ago but
being an 850cc engine I really used to thrash it in order to get any semblance
of performance from it. The Cords
were shot within a couple of years).
Phil
TSSC 13/60 Register Secretary
From: Phil Willson
Electronic Engineering
Queen Mary and Westfield College
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
Tel +44 (0)171 975 5338
Fax +44 (0)181 981 0259
email p.j.willson@qmw.ac.uk
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