I was searching through some engine kit's and saw in this Eagle 4340 kit they were using "Total Seal Max Seal Gapless Top Rings Set". I was wondering have many people used these types of ring sets yet or are they experimnetal? Here is a thread i found....just thought i'd share it.


http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=17778

 

Very recommended. All they do is eliminate ring gap, so you get less blowby. Saves a few horsepower from being lost to the crankcase.

 

Good link there,

The big deal with gapless top rings is the cylinder wall surface finish, but it's important in any ring application.

They are not a cheap set of rings and for about 99% of the guys out there they can spend that extra money someplace else.

The big thing they do is seal under a wide range of temp conditions and they will last a long time.

Bret

 

For some reason I feel uncomfotable with the idea of no gap.

In that thead someone said that they actually had more blowby when there is load on the motor. I wonder if this is true. Are they Stonger than a nomal set of rings? Because the kit I was looking at was a Extreme Blower/Nitrous kit. I am wondering if their servicable life is shorter though.....as in they need to be replaced more often.

 

They are not actually gapless. My 383 uses them. They have 2 rings nested together and the gaps are 180 degrees apart. Both pieces are gapped like normal. They are still 1/16 inch total thickness (in my case). I think you can also get sets that have gapless second rings also.

 

I don't think it's true that there's more blowby under no load, and if there was, it wouldn't be substantial and besides, it's not like anyone's worried about how much torque they can make at 800 rpm closed throttle.

And service life should be fine as long as the engine is properly cared for, just like the rest of the parts.

 

The Extreme Blower rings are good for REALLY high boost and are actually a gapless 2nd ring. Which is not really worth it.

Bret

 

If you don't have an extremely good seal on the top ring,don't run gapless second.It has a habit of unseating the top ring if much blow by gets past the top ring. The gapless top rings work good for street and race as long as end gap and cyl. wall finish is payed a lot of attention.
Like was mentioned they are not totally gapless,the rail type ring makes the gap about 2/3 less gap that is exposed to compression. So there is less leakage by the top ring,which keeps "the pop in the top".

 

I'm just wondering if i would want to use these in my stroker motor when the time comes......it will have quite a bit of boost.....probably 15psi. I just don't know much about them.