In-car ring change procedure

[tonyz2897]

In-car ring change procedure
Requires use of In-car bearing change procedure

Well I fully intended to start on a staged boost control rig I planned for the Daytona after I finished the write-up on changing mains. Sadly, I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to get started so I'll go ahead and cover rings now and maybe I'll feel more like working on the car when I'm finished.

First I'll begin by saying that this is just a simple re-ring. It should do fine for a daily driver or mild performance car. If you're planning on upgrading to forged pistons at the same time, do yourself a favor and have a machine shop check the clearances or at the very least use a mic and snap guage to do it yourself. The reason I say this is that most forged pistons require a slightly larger clearance to the bore so just dropping a standard size set of forged pistons in a standard bore engine can still cause problems.

1. following the recomended procedure in your shop manual (you do have one don't you?) remove the head.
2. feel the tops of the bores for a ridge. Generally, if there is enough of a ridge to hang a fingernail on, I'd advise cutting it with a ridge reamer.
3. Follow steps 1-8 of the rod bearing procedure. When you get to the part about pushing the rod/piston up in the bore, continue pushing until the piston pops out the top of the bore (it helps to have an assistant up top).
4. Repeat the removal process for the other 3 pistons. Make sure to mark the pistons and rods/caps so everything goes back where it came from.
5. Using either a bar style or ball style hone, hone the cylinders to obtain a decent crosshatch. This helps the new rings to seat properly. Once you're done with the hone, clean the cylinders and crankshaft thoroughly (I use brakecleen) to remove any abrasive from the honing process then apply a coat of oil.
6. Remove the old rings from the pistons and inspect the ring grooves for carbon deposites. Break off a piece of old ring and use it to clean the grooves if necessary.
7. Install the new rings following the instructions that came with them. Take care to stagger the ring end gaps so they aren't lined up. Also, now would be a good time to give the rod bearing half a coat of assembly lube.
8. Using a ring compressor, compress the rings and start the #1 piston back in it's bore. Make sure the valve reliefs are in the same location as when it came out.
9. using a soft drift (wooden hammer handle) gently tap the piston into the bore until the top ring is just below the deck surface. Be gentle here if a ring pops out of the compressor before it's started in the bore and you're using excessive force, you'll break the ring.
10. From under the car, pull the rod down and seat it against the crank.
11. apply a coat of assembly lube to the bottom half of the rod bearing and install the cap taking care to line up your match marks. Torque to factory spec.
12. Follow steps 7-11 for the remaining pistons.
13. Reinstall the oil pan with a new gasket, check the drain plug, and replace the oil filter.
14. Reinstall the head and related parts according to the manual.
15. Fill the engine oil and the cooling system.
16. disconnect the HEP wires and crank the engine until you see the oil pressure come up then reconnect the HEP.
17. Start the engine, allow it to come to operating temperature while you check for leaks.
18. Begin break in as soon as the engine has come up to operating temperature. The first 20 miles are critical to ring seating and long periods of idling should be avoided at all cost. Here's a good link for breakin guidlines. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
19. Enjoy!

HTH,
Tony

[moparfwdsleeper]

Added to the turbododge FAQ Articles Section.