Re: Restoring Rusty
 

no gentlemen I did not brake them whilst removing them off the piston, they were broken already that's why they would not spin at all

here's a closer look at #3 oil ring snapped in two

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and here is the broken oil ring of #5, this one broke into three pieces, a tiny small one if you look closely

I think we found our problem(s) folks!

so lots and lots of work today, I can't believe I tore it all apart in one day so quickly like that, and I hope to put it all back together tomorrow

can I do it? stay tuned...

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Oh me. You're elbow deep now.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Dude, your energy amazes me. You get more accomplished on your rig in one day then I have on mine in the last two years. Thumbsup man!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

LoL thanks bro, did I mention the wife was out of town, hee hee 🤓

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Wow - impressive amount of progress. Waiting to see the plan to address this. Better set of rings? Something you can do to keep the next set from breaking... Good luck getting it all back together today!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Just scored some Sealed Power (aka Federal Mogul) E251X cast iron rings for $46.84 at O'Really's. They wouldn't quite match Summit's price of $30.97 but gave them to me for $42.99 plus tax, so I am very happy.

The guy used to own a machine shop and said they seal better in less than perfect conditions such as mine.

Summit description reads: "These OE-quality Sealed Power cast piston rings are made from ductile iron and are specifically designed for stock rebuilds."

and they were made in the U.S.A. - Bonus!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

well after cooking the kids breakfast (yes I took them to IHOP - shhhh, don't tell the wife) I had an hour this morning to prep the block for the pistons, ie scrape the old gaskets off

Fun Level: -2

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That coolant you found... Is the block cracked?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

First pic in post 4767

1- looks like you need to cut the ridge off the top of the cylinders
2- is that a mark on the crankshaft journal? What do the bearings look like

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

shhhh don't even say that, ha ha

that's a mystery I have not cracked yet, pun intended

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

a que tip, seriously? is this guy really that anal

um, have you meet The Greg!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and the block all squeaky clean and Piston Ready

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I will have to take another look at the crank, when I examined it the first time, it looked good, bearings had normal wear, but I bought brand new ones anyway

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

If you could get the pistons out fairly easily, you can probably get away without removing the ring ridge. Theoretically, the new rings won't hit the ridge, or be damaged by the ridge. We hope.

I like the flex (ball) hone for finish better than the cylinder hone you used. It will still work either way, as long as the glazing has been removed.

My block had 0.007" taper, and it took a bit of wiggling to get the pistons out. I got half-way through cleaning the pistons (Easy Off over cleaner works great - just don't
let the cleaner linger on the pistons. Soaking in Diesel works well, too), and decided I didn't want to be here again in 5 years, so I had it bored 0.020". And balanced. And with a torque plate. And the cha-ching cha-ching for machining.

Is this the original block?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

It would be wise to get that cylinder head magnafluxed, that buildup on the spark plug is from coolant.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Never heard of buildup from coolant, wouldn't it just evaporate, I think its from oil blow by cause of the bad/stuck/broken oil rings, but we shall see if when I put it back together and drive it for a while, its all part of the learning process

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yea, it didn't seem like coolant to me, I think I mentioned in another thread it might be rings.

As much as you have in exhaust gaskets Gregg, you could have just got some better fitting headers lol

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

AMEN to that!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The magical key right there.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

best part of working on the truck is that it comes with it's own workbench

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

time to clean these jugs

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

then it was time to clean the heads

now we aint going for perfect here, just more better

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and the exhaust side, all the gaskets like to stick to stuff

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

the intake gasket was the worst, it was stuck around the water passages real good, I can't recall if I used any adhesive around these ports or not

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and the driver side cylinder head

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

went with these standard size Sealed Power cast iron piston rings on a recommendation from an old machine shop old timer, he said these seat better than the stainless steel ones or them fancy ones

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

got a proper tool for the job, an eight dollar ring spreader

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

'Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
Don't be mad once you see that he want it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
Oh, oh, oh

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Dude, you are prodigious! I can't believe how far you got into that motor in such a short amount of time: Let's see. ..wife's gone, the football game is over, kids don't need to eat til six thirty. ..why don't I pop the top off the motor and have a look-see. Hmmm, still got some time. ..I'll pull the pistons out too.

Dang!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

thanks, ha ha, you forgot take kids to iHop, drive son to rehersal, drive daughter to practice, take girls to the mall, etc... its crazy man, but we must get Rusty done

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

well it's 9:00 AM, took today off, so let's see how much we can git done today?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

well by lunch time, so three hours later the pistons were in and torqued down to spec, I'll be honest with you I didn't think it would take me this long to drop them in, but hey I'm a One Man Circus Act

so here's how we did it

first I do NOT recomment this piece of junk adjustable piston ring compressor, but hey it's what I had I bought it back when I was young and stupid, now Summit got them non adjustable funnel tappered ones which are awesome

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

always use protection

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

we also went with Sealed Power brand con rod bearings but these were from Mexico, I dabbed these in oil to give them some stick-to-it-a-vness

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so around 9:30 am we got our first piston in...

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

... the others went a bit quicker

I did them in numerical order - just because, but making sure I could fully rotate the crank by hand after each one

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

the driver side all done

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and the passenger side all done

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

here's what the con rod and cap looked like, normal wear and tear if you were to ask me, for a 42 year old enjin