I just took delivery of a used 383 block (eagle crank, eagle h-beams, JE-31cc, 4bolt splayed caps). The components are disssambled except the rods, pistons, and rings are still together. The original owner of the engine (which had 5k miles on it) did not mark which cylinder each piston/rod assembly was in. Here are some questions I need help with:

1. Does that mean I need to have a shop ball hone it to make new cross hatching and buy new rings (I didnt notice any x-hatching in the cylinders)?
2. Also, The owner said the current rings are Sure Seal gapless rings? Are we supposed to use gapless rings on blown applications?
3. If i use the current ring/psiton setup, how am I supposed to know which piston goes in which cylinder? Does it even matter?

HELP!!!

 

Anyone??

 

If they all weight the same, then it may not matter. You'll probably need new rings though.

 

What about the cylinder walls. The old rings have seated right? Will just throwing in new rings be ok, or i do I need to ball hone the cyl. walls?

 

You should probably hone the cylinder walls too. You can do that yourself.

 

As stated above if the rods weigh the same it shouldn't matter.....BUT, and that's a big but....There's no way i would run that shortblock without it being checked out....Your going to put 15+ psi to it....i know it's more money but i would have the bore,balance and crank checked anyway.....Peace of mind...and not having to pay big bucks later.....
Good luck Jon

 

you cant just hone it and put new rings in it. You will open up the piston to bore clearance too much.
you sure they arent marked? I always stamp mine..

 

Thats exactly what I'm doing with my block??? I'm .030 overbore already, and I'm reusing the same pistons. The machine shop asked if I was running new rings, and I said yes. He told me he would put some cross hatch back in the walls (plenty still there) to remove the carbon that had accumulated in the ridge at the top to allow for proper ring gapping. I'm no professional machinist, but I can't imagine that slight wall honing will remove enough material to make piston to wall clearance an issue. The "professional" is the one who suggested it

Bill

 

I can't believe the guy didn't mark it. That's really questionable to start with.

You can reuse the rings, but the rings will have to be taken off the pistons one by one and inserted into a cylinder bore to check the ring gaps. The piston will also need to checked for clearance to the bore. You may be okay with taking a little off the bore with a hone and check the recommended clearance with JE on those pistons.

If the motor was previously balanced, you might be okay.

Basically, you have to take your time in doing it right. Otherwise, it won't last too long.

 

John, The parts were magnafluxed and checked by a machine shop according to the seller. It SHOULD be ok.

 

According to the seller, these rings are gapless, so how do you really measure the gap? Does the end of the rings ovelap some, so I need to measure the overlapped section?

 

My JE pistons are numbered on the top... 1 through 8.

 

On many of our circle track motors we go through 2-3 rebuilds without boring it. We have simply lightly honed the cylinders for new rings and a nice new cross hatch, and our piston to bore clearances have always remained well within spec. Most of the circle track engine builders around here will do the same, and these are in engines that live above 5000 rpms, and in some cases up to 9,000 rpms.