Filing the rings today for my fresh RB build and checked the oil scraper ring gap. Mfg says a minimum of .015". These have just over .060". I'm thinking that they are mis-boxed. I don't want anywhere near that much gap. The really annoying thing is I've had the rings for about 6 months while trying to procure the rest of the parts (rods, crank, bearings, ect), plus, can't call Total Seal until Monday. I just thought I was going to put this together this weekend.
Last week we had a set of JE rings for a brand X engine that was mis-boxed, had about .250" gap. Crazy.

(I build a street engine for a customer a few months ago (using a set of Hastings "drop in" rings) that had the scraper ring at approx .040" gap. Hastings said then anything less than .055" was good. Really?)

Brian

what brand of rings now ?

I found this on my ring instruction sheet ,


The oil rings only needed to be checked to ensure they were greater than 0.015 inches. The oil scraper ring does not need to be gapped. Once you have all the rings gapped to the correct settings for their assigned cylinder bore, weigh the set and record the value .

Gary

These rings are Total Seal, CR series.

The scraper rings have over .060" gap, closer to .070". The rings look like they are for a 4.350 bore. When I put one in my calipers at 4.350", the gap is approx. .025"
The package is marked 4.380"

Brian

Do you have a manual fish scale? If so try installing the oil rings only on one piston and install it upside down and make something t=you can put around the wrist pin (Tye rap maybe) and see how much pressure in lbs it takes to pull them a ways
I'm thinking that one of the major ring makers have three different design oil rings, standard tension, low tension and ultra low tension
The last bracket motor I put together for my Cuda had the ultra low tension ring set along with .043 sealing ring widths, it rotated very easily, (less than 15 Ft Lbs.) and went faster than I expected. I built it with the plan on using a vacuum pump, friction takes power to overcome

It would be nice if you had a 4.350 taper ring to test your theory , place these rings in then measure . I bet you would not have the .015 required gap . The last set I used were large , not .060 large but no issues either . Gary

I just checked, Mine actually overlap. They will have to be filed.

Maybe you got the wrong oil ring rails, I've never seen a set of them that needed additional clearance added in any motor I've build going back to the first 383 motor I order file to fit rings for in 1971, none

Not sure cab. I bought them from FHO and i'm done dealing with him. I'll just file to fit. With everyone saying their oil ring had a wide gap right out of the package, i'll just file fit to a nice small gap like .020 or so.

As long as they have gap it's no worry. Your not sealing compression. What I would want to know is if the expander they are packaged with provides the proper tension. A few years ago I had to mix and match expanders and rails to get a combo that wasn't too tight, or to loose.
Doug

Well, not sure how to find that info. I called CP Carrillo twice now for other info and got nowhere. They don't like to return messages and if they do the return message is worth zero.

Try installing one oil ring set assemble after filing the oil rings to check how well they fit in the cylinder bores with a bright light under them, if they are the wrong size, they won't fit the bores well and will not seal well in the cylinders

As a matter of fact, I have a 440 in the shop that is 4.350 bore and you are correct, they don't fit. (ends butt tight when squared in the bore)

Brian

UPDATE

I talked to the tech dept at Total Seal today and was told that my scraper rings were good. That the SAE standard (don't know what thats got to do with a race engine?) for my bore is .020"-.080". My largest bore measures 4.3838" . So, away we go. I still don't like it though.

Brian

...late to the party, but the specs for my Mahle stroker pistons kit (part# 930271030, SB 408") supplier rings (par# 4035MS-112) are as follows:

- 4.030" + 0.005" file fit ring set, 1.0 mm top ring, 1.0 mm second ring (HV385 steel/steel), 2.0 mm oil ring (Napier w/ standard tension)

The oil ring gap specifically is called out as "min. 0.015", and my measurements were all 0.024/25.