[Fot] [Spits] County Pistons Quality Control Issue

[Glenn Franco]

Yes the County Rockers are made in India.
They usually have better quality control than most.

On 1/11/2013 4:33 PM, Doug Braun wrote:
> Another horror story:
>
> A while back I replaced my Spit's rocker arm shaft with the part that 
> most vendors sold.  I believe it was "County"
> branded, and it was made in India.  I went to adjust the valves a few 
> days later, and I noticed that the front four rocker arms
> seemed rather oil-starved.  When I ran the engine with the rocker arm 
> cover off, I could see that only the rear four rocker
> arms were getting lubricated.
> It turned out that the shaft was not completely hollow:  They had 
> rifle-drilled it inwards from each end, but they did not drill
> deep enough, and the two holes did not meet up in the center.
>
> Doug
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 4:14 PM, Glenn Franco <gaf3 at charter.net 
> <mailto:gaf3 at charter.net>> wrote:
>
>     FYI
>     I am in the midst of a TR6 Rebuild with an engine that is .020"
>     overbored.
>     While fitting up the pistons and checking clearances everything
>     checked out and the bore was concentric and to specs.
>     With the piston installed in the bore I noticed increased drag
>     with #1 piston installed.
>     With rings gaps, skirt clearance correct I pulled the piston and
>     didn't see any  issues.
>     Further inspection showed that the piston was cocked in the bore
>     and had score marks on the bottom of one skirt with the same wear
>     just below the oil ring on the other side.
>     After inspecting it with the machine shop we noticed that the ring
>     grooves were not fully machined on one side of the piston.
>     The rings would not move far enough in the groove and was proud of
>     the surface causing the piston to cock in the bore.
>     We collectively have not seen this before and have a new set of AE
>     pistons not County on the way.
>
>     Having spent many years in Automotive Engineering at one of the
>     former Big Three, these events are usually not one of's.
>     There likely are many more out there that ran down the line in the
>     same batch at the same time before it was caught.
>
>     These are new County Piston sets (I think made in Israel now).
>     I would inspect their parts very closely before you install them.
>
>     I also noticed machine chips in the machined groove of their
>     Tri-Metal Main Bearings (Israel).
>     The chips were in the machined groove and were plated over with
>     the babbit and copper.
>
>     I have had very good experiences with their parts in the past.
>     Just thought I would provide a heads up.
>
>     Glenn
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