General Tech Hastings Oil Ring

[KVH]

Does this look right for a TR4A oil ring. It's part 1 of 2 pieces for the oil ring. I've just never seen this style before:

 

[bobhustead]

A google search for "hastings oil ring tr4a" got a thread about this. I have no experience with this type ring.
Bob

 

[Brinkerhoff]

I've used this type before. This part is held in place with two narrow rings yes?

 

[TomMull]

I've used this type before. This part is held in place with two narrow rings yes?

Here's a picture:

Doesn't look much like what KVH has.
Tom

 

[TR3driver]

There are lots of styles of oil rings, not even all rings from the same maker are the same.
I believe in this case, there is an outer ring that is one piece, with holes for the oil to pass through. The ring shown goes inside the outer ring and does not contact the cylinder at all.

IMO, rather than looking at ring design, you should be checking that it fits the piston groove with the right clearance, as well as the cylinder bore. If all measurements are correct, it's the "right" ring. Not necessarily the best, but we had a long discussion about problems with the 3 piece design and they may have switched to supplying this older (I believe) design because of those problems.

 

[TomMull]

Now that you mention it I remember these from many years ago although I never used them myself. They go behind the cast oil ring. Here is similar from a Hemmings article:
https://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/54005-500-0.jpg?rev=2
I'd go with a modern one or three piece ring.
Tom

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Tom , ok yes there is a large ring that fits over this inner expander. Just check the gap in the outer ring and you should be ok. You need to use a piston ring expanding tool or risk breakage.

 

[CJD]

That's a first for me! It appears it would require a very deep ring groove in the piston.

 

[TR3driver]

The piece shown is very thin and springy. It becomes almost flat when installed. Should fit the standard size ring groove.

I just got a set of 85 mm Standard rings, I'll have to check what the oil rings look like. Pistons look a lot like the earliest TR pistons in the book, with the 4th ring below the pin and a bunch of slots in the skirt, but the compression ring grooves are smaller I think.

Speaking of which, what is everyone using to replace photo bucket? I'll have to deal with that at some point.
Anyone set up a Raspberry Pi as a photo server to the web?

 

[TomMull]

Speaking of which, what is everyone using to replace photo bucket? I'll have to deal with that at some point.
Anyone set up a Raspberry Pi as a photo server to the web?

Admittedly a Luddite but I just keep the photos on the hard drive or usb flash. I have a Photobucket account but some time ago, and for reasons unknown to me, multiple copies of my photos wound up on Photobucket. There were too many to delete without losing something I valued so I quit using it.
Tom

 

[TR3driver]

Perhaps I was unclear, Tom. What I do with PB is to post photos there and then cross-link them into the various Triumph forums so that they show up in my posts but aren't (in this case) taking up space on Basil's server. The problem being that he limits the total size stored and I am far beyond that limit.

I definitely keep multiple copies on various local devices; but they are not accessible from the Internet. So I can't use them directly to put pretty pictures in my posts. For example, this image is on PB rather on BCF

(Well, it would be, if PB hadn't quit working)

 

[CJD]

All my new links are going through Imgur. Free and easy...like PB used to be.

 

[TR3driver]

Thanks, John, I'll give it a try.

 

[TFB]

I use one piece cast iron rings on my old motorcycles but have never seen one with an expander.
As far as proper fit to the piston I would suggest one more check that most manuals don't mention,but after getting burnt with repro pistons I always check end gap closed.
With piston ring gap set in cylinder ,after ring is on piston compress the ring to close the gap.If you cant get the ends to touch you have a problem.
tom