Piston Ring Orientation Left and right side for installation.

[lennyjay]

Does anyone have a diagram for the correct clocking of the rings when installing the pistons. I have the rings on but not sure how to turn the rings for correct placement (position) when they go down in the cylinder. I found some for SBC but not on the 409.

Thanks for your help......

 

[La Hot Rods]

I never use a manual, I just make sure all the gaps are spaced apart by at least a third of the piston. They will rotate and not always at the same speed, so it's a guess if they would ever line up and cause a problem.

 

[Don Jacks]

x2

 

[IMBVSUR?]

X3

 

[Jim Sullivan]

x4 I just try and keep the gap from pointing directly at the major or minor thrust area. Learned that in tech school.

 

[Fathead Racing]

Use the small block gaps that you found.

 

[chuckl]

X5

 

[El Rat]

Now let’s think about it: top ring has a cold endgap of .016 ( hot maybe..004) with a piston to wall of .012. That leaves a rectangle that is .004 x .006. Not likely to leak much. In fact the major cause of leak is too little end gap. The rings grow, touch off and presto instant leak rates of 40% or more.
We started running end-gaps of ,035 + and went from there. Best results were .050 or so.

 

[427John]

I've always done 2nd ring gap 180 from the 1st ring gap then top oil ring scraper 90 from the 2nd ring gap and bottom scraper 180 from top scraper,never had an issue with it.Like El Rat says sufficient gap is critical,if the gap closes then gap placement doesn't matter.

 

[61BUBBLE348]

I do mine at roughly 120 degrees apart, some a little closer/farther apart, I was of the belief that during operation the rings rotated, I could be wrong but was of this understanding, if they do rotate the position at rebuild is just a starting point to ensure little by pass.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Does anyone know for a fact that rings rotate? Google says yes. More info below. Says don't dunk piston in oil or rings won't seal. It's been along time but if I recall correctly I always squirted oil on them.

https://www.hotrodders.com/forum/do-piston-rings-rotate-76024.html

 

[dm62409]

Does anyone know for a fact that rings rotate?

Yes they do . Years ago ( BBC dragster) normal leak down checks were usually 4-6 %, one cylinder leaked 28% so I pulled it apart, all I could find was the top & second compression ring gaps were lined up. Turned them 180 degrees apart and put back together. Bingo, all cylinders now checked in the 4-6% range. Sometime later I had his happen again during a leakdown check, so I fired the engine, and ran it for a short time, to possibly see if the rings would turn enough to separate the gaps, rechecked leakdown was back to is normal range. Kinda proved to me that the rings do turn constantly and at some point the gaps are going to line up for a very short time.

 

[Fathead Racing]

Yes they do . Years ago ( BBC dragster) normal leak down checks were usually 4-6 %, one cylinder leaked 28% so I pulled it apart, all I could find was the top & second compression ring gaps were lined up. Turned them 180 degrees apart and put back together. Bingo, all cylinders now checked in the 4-6% range. Sometime later I had his happen again during a leakdown check, so I fired the engine, and ran it for a short time, to possibly see if the rings would turn enough to separate the gaps, rechecked leakdown was back to is normal range. Kinda proved to me that the rings do turn constantly and at some point the gaps are going to line up for a very short time.

Yeh, seems to happen every time I run the Cooter, . #Not my fault .

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

You may need a couple more compression rings Ray.

 

[lennyjay]

Thanks for all info...I guess I will follow this pic I found. I am guessing the wrist pin in is where "Gaps" word is.

 

[boxerdog]

I've seen those charts, too, and I always wondered if they moved and if so, how much.

Also wondered about "tight" end gaps, now they loosen everything up for power adders anyway. I think I really hate fitting rings anyway, but always did it...

 

[skipxt4]

Very boring, tedious, job. Must be done. I remember doing a half ass rebuild, on an engine, when I was 16. I didn't have the time, for the ring end gaps.I needed my buddy, pushing me, with his truck, to start my engine, in second gear. Tight, was the word.The rings were Perfect Circle Chrome. Probably bored the engine, a few thousands over, just running it. Ran terrible.

 

[427John]

Your story reminds me of when I was a little kid like 7 or 8 my dad and my uncle Jack overhauled the straight 8 engine in Jacks old Buick,they had polished the journals on the crank but it was still standard and had mispackaged .010 under rod bearings or something like that did the old buicks have babbited rods or did they use insert bearings,anyway when they got it all back together it wouldn't turn at all,they didn't have time to wait on new bearings so they took shim stock and made shims for between the rods and caps,when they got it back together it ran fine and my dad left him instructions to drop the pan and pull the shims out at some point,I don't remember if the recommendation was based on miles or oil pressure.