Sigh. Another ring or run it?
 

Finally putting my engine together, currently filing my rings. Went crazy on a second compression ring by mistake. Measuring at .027 gap. Run it or get another ring set?

NA LS3 11.1:1 cam only car.

Honestly probably going to run it. Just wanted to make sure it's not going to go up in a ball of flames. LOL

I think the biggest hazard might be losing a tiny smidge of compression on that hole... like not even noticeable....

Send it.

Damn! You guys always like to play FAST and LOSE with everything. :cool: And just keep cool! It has been impressing me.

I have NEVER done things that way... HOWEVER!!! It usually always seem to work out for all you guys.

I am stressed just thinking about some of it! LMAO but I feel so stuck-up, caught in my ways of "Do it perfect or don't bother".

The attitude here is simply "Fuck it", and part of me loves it! :-)

I seriously believe I may start to rethink many of my standard practices... I am far too rigid when it comes down to these sorts of things.

I am going to have to try some of the procedures that many of you employ on the LSx engine family...

At least give it a shot on my personal projects before attempting this mentality with my business.

I fear I would go bankrupt... When the crazy part is, maybe I'd be more successful just by loosening up a little.

Who am I kidding... I need to loosen up a LOT!




I am truly flabbergasted

I Pretty much did exactly the same thing on my latest build and went 0.05 on one ring, I rang JE and they said just put it in. My engine does not burn a drop!

I love all you guys, thanks for the advice. My tops are all measuring around .020 and the rest of my seconds are measuring around .020 as well (besides the one at .027). Should I go to .023 on the seconds or keep them where they're at? I understand the second ring should be a little wider than the top?

Factory (L92) spec is 0.009"-0.0196" for top ring, and 0.0173"-0.03" for second ring. I'm at 0.014" top and 0.020" second, brand new going into a build of bore size +0.020". Forced induction of course typically opens that up from there. Your top ring specs are at the high end of the service limit, going into a fresh build. It will start and run well, but may tire sooner than expected, would be my guess. Maybe next question becomes how will it be run, and how long is it expected to last?

Thanks KCS! Hoping you would chime in.
Some of the second rings are at about .021 .022, and most of the top rings are about .019 to .021. So they are slightly larger but not by much. Will this be an issue?

Stupid question, when checking PTV clearance last night I forgot to put the head gasket on (I was tired!) And my buddy spun the motor over by hand. The pistons come out of the hole about .009, and when he was turning it over it was a little hard to turn and you heard a "clunk" and the piston went back down the cylinder. I only had about 5 head studs tightened up. I think the head lifted when the piston came up. Think I hurt anything? Stupid mistake but have to ask.

Potential to bend valve. While the heads are off, I'd fill each of the 16 total ports with water to see if they hold or leak. A very informal test, but it should indicate something vs nothing if one is bent. You should really only need to check intake, but why not do all while you are there.

All valves were closed, the piston just barely kissed the head on the way up, spinning it by hand

Put that ring in hole number 7.....

It'll will likely be ok, but if it were me, I would go ahead and open the second rings up just a little more. I don't think it will kill your engine or cost you 20hp if you don't open them up a little more though.

If the rings still seem to spin freely in the ring grooves, then I would think that you're ok. I would take it all apart and check everything out again just to ease my mind, but I wouldn't really expect to find anything damaged.

I've turned the motor over by and and it spins over perfectly still. Just curious as what the worst case would be? No way you can bend a rod or damage a ring by turning it over and it touching the head.