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Old 01-31-2024, 11:52 AM
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b-man b-man is offline
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When I was having my 421 block bored .031” oversize for some 4.125 pistons I had purchased (stock bore is 4.09375) it came to our attention that someone had ruined the upper 3/8” of the bore using a ridge reamer sometime in the past while doing a ring job on the stock pistons.

I sold the 4.125” pistons and bought a set of 4.135” pistons which was the smallest size the bores would clean up at. I guess buying the pistons beforehand was a mistake, I was trying to expedite the process by purchasing what I thought would be the right size. However they would have been right if someone hadn’t screwed up by getting heavy handed using a ridge reamer.

A ridge reamer was commonly used in the past when someone wanted to do an economy rebuild keeping the old pistons. If you’re doing a proper rebuild with new pistons just skip the ridge reamer nonsense and get those old junk pistons out of there, who really cares if you break some rings or damage pistons that are already destined for the scrap bin.

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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42
1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/3.08
2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23
1966 VW Type 2 Single Cab Pickup 140hp 2276
1956 VW Type 2 Panel Van 36hp 1200
1957 VW Type 1 Beetle 180hp 2276
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