Piston rings

[Guest Locutus]

This is off topic some but it relates to chevy engines in general. More specifially the Chevy II 181 CI 140HP that mercruiser makes. My question is I got all these pieces second hand and I am trying to assemble the motor. The short block was left out in the rain by the previous owner for a few weeks and some minor surface rust has formed on the cylinder walls. I plan to take a hone to the walls to clean it up and give a nice crosshatch patter for the rings to seat to. Now my question is since the prvious rings have less than 100 hours on them or about 5000 miles equivalance, how bad would it be to reuse them. I was told I should replace them so the rings can seat to the newly cleaned and refreshed cylinder walls. How bad would it be to reuse these rings? Marine grade engine parts seem to have a high premium so any money that can be saved is good

 

 

Mike

[DavyZ]

Personally, I would not reuse the rings, but how do they look? How do they clean up? I suppose you could reuse them, but their condition is of primary importance to how they will affect the cylinder walls. Unless someone here proves me wrong, they are not like flat tappet lifters which really should be replaced. Make sure there is no rust or anything on them. Maybe a machine shop that builds engines could look at them and give their recommendation? They should still be in good shape due to the low miles.

 

David

[Guest Anonymous]

Yeah, I tend to think replace the rings if you hone it, so they'll seat properly, the other rings might, but if they don't then you'll be replacing them again anyway. Hmm, 181 inch huh, is that similar to the old 140 chevy had for a few years in the Chevy II? That was a good little motor, looked like the straight six missing two jugs. (They were used often in early midget racers too).

 

Regards,

 

Lone