[prostreet64]

Currently fitting Total Seal rings to Icon pistons. The grooves are .0625 (1/16) and the rings mic at .0615 Clearance is supposed to be between .0015 and .003 I am thinking about taking 1 thou off the rings to give a .002 clearance. Any thoughts of going more or less than 2 thou?

[steve25]

am I missing something here?

According to your numbers you posted you already have way way too much clearance at.010" yet you want to add another .001"!?

These areas are considered toast at .004" clearance!

[428goat]

Pro street check your math.

[prostreet64]

Guys, if you subtract .0615 from .0625 you get .001 which is the current clearance. I need to take off .001 to get to .002, right?

[Tom Vaught]

They are not paying attention to that number. prostreet64 .
Only looking at the last two numbers.

He posted the dimensions to 4 places. .001 difference in the two dimensions.
Like he posted.

If the ring people recommend .002, I would "dust off' the ring gap to .002

Tom V.

[prostreet64]

Thanks Tom, I was leaning that way.

[67Fbird]

depending on your resources as to which method you employ to obtain another thou. I would first recommend making sure everything is deburred very well and remeasure. A piece of GREY scotchbrite can be your friend here. From your numbers at 4 decimals i would assume you are in the trade? I would not be trying to throw a set of rings on a grinder to get .001. Might recommend using small lapping block with ring sitting on surface plate or mag chuck on a grinder.

[Gary H]

I wouldn't mess with it Gates. Leave it as is.

[grandam1979]

His math looks ok

[steve25]

Boy! Big F up on my part, sorry!
I guess you can’t ask me to build a motor before 7 am and the first cup of coffee!

[prostreet64]

No worry Steve, I have screwed up more measurements than I can remember!

Gary, I guess I am just a bit paranoid about a ring hanging up in the groove because of too little clearance.

67Fbird, I learned a trick from a machinist many years ago as to removing a small amount from rings to get a desired side clearance. He had a shallow pan with about 1/2 " of mineral spirits in it and then a sheet of 400 wet/dry sandpaper. By moving the ring in a circular motion with light pressure it would take off 1 thou evenly in a short period of time. Just had to check with the caliper all along to make sure it didn't take off too much.

[Tom Vaught]

Never could understand why people shoot from the hip and say "leave it alone" on engine building when the people that make the parts say the desired side clearance is .002 for THEIR PART.

Nothing wrong with having opinions but I am sure the Ring People have been doing their jobs for more than a few years.

Obviously the ring people have data that says set the rings to .002 vs .001 for ring clearance.
Their data is worth more than 1000 opinions (to quote one of my old bosses).

Tom V.

That being said, everyone has a right to their opinion and should be able to post that opinion.

[prostreet64]

Tom, just to clarify, the instructions with the Total Seal rings say to set the side clearance between .0015 and .003 so I was shooting for a nice in between at .002. My concern is that the current .001 is not enough, but I am not by any means certain about that.

[Tom Vaught]

Never could understand why people shoot from the hip and say "leave it alone" on engine building when the people that make the parts say the desired side clearance is .002 for THEIR PART.

.003 minus .0015 = .0015 so you divide that by 2 and you get the mean as roughly .0022" and your number .002 is very good. Most manufacturers have a spread on the clearance and a mid point. Your .002 in my mind was right where it should be.

For sure .0010 was not enough. .0020" was right about at the mid point.

Some can't even get close to the number you are posting, (including me).

Tom V.

[mgarblik]

IMO, shoot for the minimum that they would like. So really you only need to gain .0005" You can get that pretty easy with a piece of plate glass or a granite floor tile. (which I use). A little Clover compound and lap the rings and you will get there pretty fast. Really talking about .00025" from the top and bottom of the ring. That will put you at .0015" minimum side clearance. If your concerned the groove may have a tiny burr or two in it you could lap the ring to the actual groove. But you have to clean the heck out of everything if you go that route. Free rotation of the rings is what the manufacturer is really after with the spec. Obviously, excessive side clearance leads to all kinds of trouble.

[Dragncar]

Total Seal has fantastic customer service/tech. Give them a call and talk to Kevin and you will get your answer.

[428goat]

Not enough coffee in the morning for me on my post prostreet. You are correct

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Before I started sanding, I'd have my feeler gauges out double checking clearance.

Spec of dust could get you a half thou off with calipers and mics.

Was the ring groove measured or published info?

Clay

[cgeise]

really depends on the use of the build -- a 450 hp street car is way diff than a fire breathing strip or road race car --- food for thought

[prostreet64]

Thanks for all the feedback. Just might call Total Seal and see what they say. As to the measurements, I used feeler gauges which were miked to verify the .0625 and the grooves are dead on. Then miked the rings at .0615 which yielded the .001 clearance. As far as the build is concerned this is my 463 stroker that I have wanted to build for a number of years; just now able to do it. Nothing too radical but shooting for 625-650 hp and similar torque. 325 KRE heads and Northwind intake, 262/270 solid roller, all forged bottom end.