I am going to get a set of gapless rings is there anything good or bad that i should know about them? any thoughts on this thanks

 

I have been TOLD, by more than one person; that you have to follow the instructions PRECISELY or they are a very bad choice.

I have also been told that when you DO follow the instructions precisely and get everything right that they work very nicely indeed.


Having said that, it seems to me that most of the guys who really know their stuff are still using 'file-to-fit' rings.

 

IF you can do everything right the Max Seal rings are a good choice.

Bret

 

what kind of instrutions? does anyone know what the special instrutions are? and what has to be done?

 

Well you should hone the block to a certain surface finish range, but without a $1500 tool to measure that it's close to impossible. I love the rings but I spend a lot of time and effort to make sure that they are correct.

Bret

 

thanks for the info, i think i will try some other rings is there any problem with the file to fit rings?

 

Actually the setup I like for 90% of the engines you guys are building out there are Mahle Pro Pack pistons and rings, they fit perfectly together and are high quality pieces for the money.

Bret

 

For the price and actual HP gains, zero-gaps are overkill for the street. That being said, I use the C&A ZGS type and they work great....and yeah I do have them in my street car

 

Funny what we will do ain't it?

I like these things for some applications but it all depends on what you are looking for.

Bret

 

how does a chorme top ring and a cast second ring work on a street car? would these type of rings hold up to 11.7 comp ratio? these rings are not file to fit.

 

Stick with a moly ring, some people have touble getting chrome rings to seat, they are much more dependant on a specific ra/rz cylinder wall finish.

 

a 11.7:1 compression ratio isin't high enough to warrant a different ring anyways. No way are you making the cylinder temps to worry about it.

Bret

 

Get Total Seal gap less top ring set. Stay away from chrome rings as they are to hard to seat.
I don't like molly due to the R&D I did for C&A a few years back. They don't like heat,dirt,boost,N20 or detonation. They will shell out the molly in a heart beat,been there done that.If not building an engine that has any of these things subject to happen to it,they'll do.
Try using just a ductile iron top and middle if not using gap less which are a ductile iron or very close to it.
That worked on the fastest 4.6 MM Ford doorslamer on the planet.-8.89@159,3270 race weight and 281CID with 26LBS of boost.

EDIT-- That car has been retire to go faster and that engine had over 300 passes.

 

I have never personally used the total seal rings, but I have heard other builders say they are junk, I have always used the ZGS...anybody got some firsthand experiance with the total seals vs the ZGS?

 

I would think that having the second ring being gapless would be better considering that it see's much less heat than the top especially in a NO2 or blown app.