along side this the custom gudgeon pins that accompanied the JE pistons also
helped the diet............
When the math is done the custom pistons and pins had managed to shave
over half a kilo (612.4g) off the rotating mass total.
The other items that came with the pistons were oversized piston rings.....
The reason they were oversized (too big for the cylinder bore) is as follows.
When a piston ring is fitted to a piston and then dropped into the cylinder
there is a gap in the ring as shown below......
the reason for that gap is to allow the piston ring metal to expand when the
temperatures start to rise in the cylinder with the engine running. The piston
rings main job is make sure all that rapidly expanding gas from the little explosion
the spark plug just started, stays above the piston pushing it down.
So, with that in mind, we'd really like if there was no gap at all in the ring when the
engine gets up to operating temperature. The rings that come with standard pistons
are designed in such a way that this gap is small when things are warm, but,
with customs rings you can get it a little smaller which should result in an even better seal.
The rings that come with the JE pistons are oversized, which means if you place them into
the cylinder as they are, they overlap. So you've got to file them down to just the right gap
which is usually specified by the ring manufacturer. Theres plenty of special tools out there
which you can buy to do this exact job and they range in price. But, seen as how I now owe
money to almost every known lending institution in the free world, I thought it might be best if I
knock up a tool from what I have rather than hitting e-bay.
What you see below is a Dremel with a narrow grinding disc and a little bent sheet aluminium table
for the ring to sit on.........
The pictures are fairly self explanatory I think. The grinding disc is set up so that
it only grinds the ring towards the centre as you don't want sharp edges on the
outside circumference of the ring that could scrape the bore. And the four little
brass thing-a-ma-jigs make sure the ring rotates squarely into the disc.......
so that you end up with a gap like below, so that when heat expanded together in the
engine the ends will be parallel to each other..........
the grinding process itself is a slow and meticulous one. The rings are ground a tiny
bit and then fitted into the block using a piston to sit them square.........
and then the gap is measured with feeler blades till you reach the required size.....
The whole process takes quite a while as you don't want to grind too much and
risk having to order more rings and start all over again. As is the nature of these things
you should just be getting the knack of how much needs to be taken off each ring when
your finishing the last one.
When all's done and dusted the rings are packed away for the final assembly........
helped the diet............
When the math is done the custom pistons and pins had managed to shave
over half a kilo (612.4g) off the rotating mass total.
The other items that came with the pistons were oversized piston rings.....
The reason they were oversized (too big for the cylinder bore) is as follows.
When a piston ring is fitted to a piston and then dropped into the cylinder
there is a gap in the ring as shown below......
the reason for that gap is to allow the piston ring metal to expand when the
temperatures start to rise in the cylinder with the engine running. The piston
rings main job is make sure all that rapidly expanding gas from the little explosion
the spark plug just started, stays above the piston pushing it down.
So, with that in mind, we'd really like if there was no gap at all in the ring when the
engine gets up to operating temperature. The rings that come with standard pistons
are designed in such a way that this gap is small when things are warm, but,
with customs rings you can get it a little smaller which should result in an even better seal.
The rings that come with the JE pistons are oversized, which means if you place them into
the cylinder as they are, they overlap. So you've got to file them down to just the right gap
which is usually specified by the ring manufacturer. Theres plenty of special tools out there
which you can buy to do this exact job and they range in price. But, seen as how I now owe
money to almost every known lending institution in the free world, I thought it might be best if I
knock up a tool from what I have rather than hitting e-bay.
What you see below is a Dremel with a narrow grinding disc and a little bent sheet aluminium table
for the ring to sit on.........
The pictures are fairly self explanatory I think. The grinding disc is set up so that
it only grinds the ring towards the centre as you don't want sharp edges on the
outside circumference of the ring that could scrape the bore. And the four little
brass thing-a-ma-jigs make sure the ring rotates squarely into the disc.......
so that you end up with a gap like below, so that when heat expanded together in the
engine the ends will be parallel to each other..........
the grinding process itself is a slow and meticulous one. The rings are ground a tiny
bit and then fitted into the block using a piston to sit them square.........
and then the gap is measured with feeler blades till you reach the required size.....
The whole process takes quite a while as you don't want to grind too much and
risk having to order more rings and start all over again. As is the nature of these things
you should just be getting the knack of how much needs to be taken off each ring when
your finishing the last one.
When all's done and dusted the rings are packed away for the final assembly........
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