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TR2/3/3A new rings

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Jedi Knight
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I am intsalling the no name rings that came with my Moss 86mm liner/piston set.
My question is about the 3 piece oil ring which has a about a 2" long wire threaded through the expander/spacer ring,bridging the gap.
It seems like nothing keeps it from moving.It looks like its designed to keep the ends of the spacer aligned.
Is anybody familiar with this oil ring design?
BTW the Moss kit nothing is branded but the pistons have "county" cast on the inside.
Thanks
Tom
 
Never seen this, I suspect it is a "dummy " to be removed when the first scrapper ring is set in place to hold the expander alignment.
The second scrapper finishes the job.
Do Not underestimate, this must be done right......or its Wrong
Mad dog
 
Thanks MD,Actually searching the web for info on oil rail gaps(mine seem very big),Grantrings.com site under ring styles showed ring *wl wire latch" that show this style ring.I assume they stay in,you cant remove once you put in a scraper.
Still not sure about the big oil ring rail gaps.
Tom
 
+1...I've never seen anything like that. If you have time, I'd appreciate a pic.
 
+1...I've never seen anything like that. If you have time, I'd appreciate a pic.
Hey John,not sure how to post pic but if you go to grantpistonrings.com,then piston rings,drop down piston ring styles.
I think this style is patented by grant and the wire has a little 90 bend ,not shown on chart,on the ends so the wire is not removable.
I think the rings I have are maybe a design knock off with wire having no end bends ,so you could expand the expander and remove the wire,which prompted my original question.
Once the style I have is installed with the rails the wire can move but cant come out.
One of things I never liked with three piece rings is the possibility of the expander ends not being properly aligned.This design seems to eliminate that problem.
Thanks
Tom
 
Yep. It looks like an attempt to prevent overlapping the wavy ring. I have rebuilt several dozen engines over the years, all using 3 piece oil rings and never had a problem with the wavy ring. Based on past posts, I guess a lot of builders do. The key is to take a good look at all the rings after installation, and while you are orienting the gaps, and an overlapped wavy ring is quite obvious.

If that little wire CAN come out, I would make sure to remove it. Any metal sloshing around an engine is not good.
 
I looked at Grant's site and saw the WL style. I don't like and would not use the WL rings with the wire in place. There is an old saying : 'just because an engineer can do something doesn't mean you should let him'.
Bob
 
Thanks for replies.
The wire can only be removed by expanding the wavy ring to about 1 1/2 ".Once its on the piston and the scrapers are in the wavy ring cant expand and wire is captured.The wire can move side to side a couple of wavy ring segments,but not past the gap.
I left them in.
Better instructions included would have been nice.
Tom
 
Overlap is a huge issue for me. It's happened despite what I'd say was great care. When you tap the piston down, you simply can't see what's happening to the wavy ring, the oil scraper ring. For me, I'd be happy to use a ring with a safety wire like that. My other advice is to be absolutely certain you were sent the correct rings. I my case, they were wrong, and only a production note at Moss (in their internal sales manual) saved me.
 
Thanks for reply kvh,My rings were marked on the comp rings"xr8600".and fit @.015 gaps.
The scraper rings for the oil ring had larger gaps,around .040.
Can you elaborate on the problems with the rings and the production note in moss internal sales manual.

Thanks
Tom
 
Probably irrelevant to 86mm. The issue was 87mm where two nomenclatures were used: 87mm and 86 oversized .04 inches. They were actually different.
 
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