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Lindsey rings are $100 more than Goetze on their site...$260 vs $160...
I don't own a ring grinder, nor do I have a workbench or even a garage. I'm rebuilding my engine in my living room dude. I'm not trying to be cheap to the point where I shoot myself in the foot, just practical; so I'm asking the questions I'm asking for a reason.
OEM Porsche piston rings are straight drop in and correct gaps if your bores are in good condition.
LR rings come oversize for bigger bores if needed to be over size ect so need to be gapped. gapping is easy if you have a feeler gauge.
Goetze rings are straight drop in. These have a lower tolerance than the OEM rings. so the gaps may be slightly larger.
I run LR rings with no issues. I've had the head off after a year and looks as i just put it together a year ago.
I would just get the goetze rings if in your position.
P.s All you need is a vice, a fine file and a feeler gauge to gap the rings (if you want to go that way)
Picked up an extremely clean, like new set of rods and pistons guys, thanks everyone for the input and nice offers.
Jury is still out on what rings I'm going to run, my gut feeling currently is to install the low mileage factory set of rings I just obtained, and if they are in spec; run them. They cant possibly seal worse than new in-spec rings on my old bores since they (the rings) are already broken in. In my mind they also have a lower chance of tearing the bores up. If they are out of spec, new Goetze rings will go in.
Jury is still out on what rings I'm going to run, my gut feeling currently is to install the low mileage factory set of rings I just obtained, and if they are in spec; run them. They cant possibly seal worse than new in-spec rings on my old bores since they (the rings) are already broken in. In my mind they also have a lower chance of tearing the bores up. If they are out of spec, new Goetze rings will go in.
Cheers everyone.
Goetze rings usually don't need to be gapped because they already have a bit larger gaps.
I think your decision using known good factory rings is right choice. It may seem like a blasphemy but dilemmas like this are everywhere in the car world (even with ball joints etc. I would never use a new cheap brazilian made ball joint instead of slightly used factory part for example).
I'd say it's a bit of a risk using used rings because they've been broken in on another engine. but hope it all works well.
but i still would say you may as well spend the $100 or so on new rings for an 'insurance' thing as those rings have worked for everyone who uses them.
I'd say it's a bit of a risk using used rings because they've been broken in on another engine. but hope it all works well.
but i still would say you may as well spend the $100 or so on new rings for an 'insurance' thing as those rings have worked for everyone who uses them.
I'm in somewhat of a pickle Paul. As I'm sure you guys know, this isn't my first rodeo building an engine. So I know what I'm "supposed" to do.
The crux of the issue is this. I own the tools to measure taper and out of round on the bores, but I absolutely, positively, simply can not and will not have the bores properly prepped (honed and etched) because I can not afford it.
That being said, even if the bore IS out of round and tapered (it probably is) I wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and if I don't know about it it wont keep me up at night.
But since we all know the bore is likely imperfect (I settled for them having no major score marks), my thoughts are that new, lower quality aftermarket rings are going to be no better than known good low mileage OEM ones. There is always the risk new rings will not seat properly on old bore that was not honed prior to install.
Yes, its bad practice that they are being placed into bores that they were not originally broken in on. However, the pistons and rings look effectively new. If I told you I just took them out of the package, you would probably believe me.
If I had the bores honed, then new rings would be a no brainer. But in my situation, I think it's a small calculated risk that if nothing else, will give the board a good data point for the future.
FWIW, I'm having the crank polished and then plan on reusing a good set of used main bearings I have (if they plastigauge ok of course) since they also look effectively new.
Wish me luck gentleman, just know that I am fully aware of the risks I'm taking and am not saying or doing anything out of ignorance or naivete.
The motor has a rebuilt head with 0 miles on it, so in the end I'll be happy if I end up with 130 psi across all 4 and less than 5% leakdown. I know that's a little low, but I'd take that and run with it knowing it would run for another 150k miles.
If radial thickness of rings is close to new set I wouldn't worry at all. They will seat just fine and OE is OE. I wouldn't use Goetze, old stock rings are much better choice.
If radial thickness of rings is close to new set I wouldn't worry at all. They will seat just fine and OE is OE. I wouldn't use Goetze, old stock rings are much better choice.
Any idea on the spec for radial thickess? I know the end gap spec.
01-21-2016, 05:48 PM
(if you want to go that way)
