'81 550T…ring job

[Buffalo Bill]

Well, I'm havin' a hard time gettin' the cylinder block down over the new rings. Never tried this before. Can any of you old timers share a tip on gettin' those pistons back into the cylinders?
Thanks!

[ratdude]

Find yourself four hose clamps that fit the pistons . use them to act as a ring compressor . LIGHTLY tighten them , we are trying to compress the rings not clamp the pistons . Once you get the rings inside the cylinder ( the clamps should slide down the pistons ) , remove the clamps .

You did clean out the ring grooves on the pistons , didn't you ? One piece of carbon under a ring will make this job damn near impossible .

Rat

[ratdude]

( Just got back from work ) and another , Oil is your best friend here , good clean oil .
If your not making a mess of your work area and yourself , you need more oil .

Rat

[SqDancerLynn1]

Block the center two pistons up with a block of wood Make sure the rings are staggered according to the book Use a Popsicle stick or hose clamps or lg zip ties get the center one's in first. Then work on the outer two

[tejasmud]

No "old timer" here,

But, +1 on blocking up the center pistons, and popsicle sticks. I used no compressors of any sort on the stock lead ins, no oil, and things seemed to go together smoothly. Not saying it wouldn't help, just didn't see that they were really needed.

In opinion don't use excessive force to get the cylinder down if it seems to be be in a bind. Once the rings are in, the cylinder should push down with little effort. Also, pay close attention to the oil rings as they go in, so not to booger them up.



E

[DanTheMan]

I never install rings dry. Lots of oil required to lubricate the cylinder and rings because you're going to need to rotate the crank to do the job, and no oil on the piston and rings will leave scratches in your newly honed cylinders. The hose clamp idea works.

[Nessism]

I install the rings dry, into a dry cylinder.

A fair number of people break rings when installing the cylinder because they don't get the rings compressed properly. Please be careful and find a helper if you can't do it by yourself.

[Buffalo Bill]

Just waitin' for a new ring to arrive…

I install the rings dry, into a dry cylinder.

A fair number of people break rings when installing the cylinder because they don't get the rings compressed properly. Please be careful and find a helper if you can't do it by yourself.

Oops, almost but I didn't use too much force. I bent one of the second rings. So I'm waiting for one new set to arrive. I cut some bands out of sheet steel that will widen the effective of the hose clamps, and I got a hose clamp for each piston.

SqDancerLynn1: “Block the center two pistons up with a block of wood Make sure the rings are staggered according to the book Use a Popsicle stick or hose clamps or lg zip ties get the center one's in first. Then work on the outer two.”

This time I'll use a piece of wood to support the center pistons, plus I'll have hose clamps on all the pistons.
Bill

[Skateguy50]

my repair book for the 650 gave me a template for a cut out to make in wood to hold the block in place gently while I get the others installed. Worked pretty good. I used lots of oil and more wood to compress them as I slid them in. I didnt hone or do any work though, just replaced the gaskets and back together... maybe that makes it easier not sure.

[Suzuki_Don]

This a picture of the wooden support in place and doing what it was designed to do on my 550. It is more difficult getting the pistons into the 550 cylinders than the larger motors as the pistons are closer together and the stroke is shorter which gives less room to move.

[Buffalo Bill]

Nice photo.

It is more difficult getting the pistons into the 550 cylinders than the larger motors as the pistons are closer together and the stroke is shorter which gives less room to move.

So true! Great photo you made there, but it's the next step that's the hard one. Getting the outside pistons up the cylinders. Got a pic showing that?
Thanks.

[Suzuki_Don]

Hey BB, here are a couple of more pics for you. You will notice that I did not use the wooden blocks on the outside pistons. The reason for this is that to get the pistons high enough to get the wooden blocks underneath requires rotating the crankshaft and this brings the centre pistons down and then their rings pop out of the cylinders. Start all over again.

I too broke a ring when inserting the pistons and had to buy another ring set. Mine were 650 rings but I struck the same problem. In my case one of the ring lands on the piston was damaged slightly (not visible to the nakes eye) and the ring was not free in this portion of the ring land (it was pinched and would not rotate around the piston or compress). I used a points file to clean it up and then the piston went on with no further problems.

[Buffalo Bill]

Thanks for the details.

Hey Don, thanks!
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
Bill

[Steve]

This a picture of the wooden support in place and doing what it was designed to do on my 550. ...

You have a big-bore kit on your 550?

The stamp on the cylinder block sure looks like it says "673 cm^3"

.

[cowboyup3371]

I'm not sure I'm following along here. I did rebuild an old Pontiac Firebird engine so I am familiar with what you are doing but I'm not getting what I am seeing. I understand you are using the hose clamp to tighten the rings to slide the piston in but what is that other sleeve? Do you just loosen and slide the hose clamp down once the top part of the engine slides over the first ring? Are you just completely loosening the hose clamp once it is at the last ring to remove it? And even with reading the other posts, why do you need to support the inside pistons with the wood? Again, I'm not following along even after doing the car before...sorry.