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J

JM

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
This is just not my day. I was putting the pistons in my freshly machined 350 block and somehow when I was tapping in the #2 piston the bottom oil rail ring came out of the groove and the end got bent up and out. This of course left a nice scratch in my cylinder. What the hell am I supposed to do now? I really need a little direction here because I don't have the money to get it machined again and buy new pistions etc. How bad is too bad? Or is any scratch bad? ANY help would be great...I am ready to jump out the window.

--Jeff
 
#5 ·
gotta watch those rails, if the ring compressor comes up off the deck at all they will pop out.

Can you post a pic or link to a pic? Honing is not a very good solution, you would need a ridgid stone, the stuff gets all over everything, have to tear-down and re-clean, all that.

Any detail on the fingernail catching deal? Especially, can you determine if there's scratch *into* the wall or is there a ridge pushed up on one side of the scratch? If there's a ridge it has to come off, it'll wreck your rings and maybe the piston. If it's a carved out scratch you might get away with it.

What type of engine is this? stocker, race, somewhere in between?
 
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#6 ·
JM said:
You can certainly catch a figernail on it. It is a good one.
Click to expand...
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I have freshened engines with some pretty good scratches in the bores that ran a hell of a lot better than expected all season.
As long as it is not too deep if you have the high part of the scratch honed out you will likely be ok but I would suggest taking it to your machinist for an opinion as pictures can be pretty deceiving.
But my best guess is it will not be horrible if you were able to install the piston without using a sledge hammer :)
Not the best scenario but I'd be willing to bet you will be ok
Sorry I can't just say it is good or bad, have to see it in person.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
I could give you a picture, but I am not sure what you are going to tell other then it is one big scratch. This might be a dumb question but how can you tell if it is a ridge or a groove? When you run your finger over it there is not a feeling of a bump, but I am no expert. I suppose I should just drag it down to my machine shop, but the damn thing is half way put together.

As to your question Tom, it is just a cruising car, no racing or anything like that. The scratch actually occured when I took it out not when I put it in. I noticed a "scuff" after I put it in and figured something was wrong. So I took it out and that is when it appeared.

EDIT: I have to run an errand and then I will post a pic. I was so P.O.'ed when I found it I just put it away and called it a day.
 
Discussion starter · #8 · (Edited)
Ok here is a look at the inside of my cylinder. And as you might notice there are in fact 2 scratches, not the one I had indicated before. The other picture is the side view of the piston. I tried to get a picture of how it was bent up in. Not sure why, but I sent it anyways.
 
#9 ·
looks like you can still see the hone marks under most of the scrape? where can you feel the scratch?
 
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#10 ·
JM said:
I could give you a picture, but I am not sure what you are going to tell other then it is one big scratch. This might be a dumb question but how can you tell if it is a ridge or a groove? When you run your finger over it there is not a feeling of a bump, but I am no expert. I suppose I should just drag it down to my machine shop, but the damn thing is half way put together.

As to your question Tom, it is just a cruising car, no racing or anything like that. The scratch actually occured when I took it out not when I put it in. I noticed a "scuff" after I put it in and figured something was wrong. So I took it out and that is when it appeared.

EDIT: I have to run an errand and then I will post a pic. I was so P.O.'ed when I found it I just put it away and called it a day.
Click to expand...
=
I am guessing the scratch is one of the two lines outside the scuff?
If you can feel a new scratch there is a raised part but it is normally very minor & looking at the pic as Tom said, you can still see the honing so most of the damage will be just at the scratch you can feel.

As long as you run a hone through to remove any high spots I think you will be ok here.
If you use your finger over the scratch very lightly instead of a fingernail it will feel much different if it is raised & you will be able to tell when the raised part is gone

You will need to remove the crank or at least I would & you will need to throughly reclean the block again.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Yup, the scratch is the two lines left of the scuff. As long as I can fix it without having to do major work that would be great. Given it is such a thin line it is a little hard to tell when you run your finger across it if it is a raised spot or the other side of the scratch.

Thanks for all of your input, not that it won't be major work to fix it, at least you gave me some hope a little bit of honing will clear it up. I will have to run it over to the machine shop and have them give me a look.

Really, thanks again!

--Jeff
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Well I figured I give an update since I like to hear how the rest of you figure stuff out when you have problems. Took the stripped down block back to the machine shop and as it turns out the guy ran a ball hone through the cylinder about 5 times and the scratch smoothed itself out. Must have been more ridge then groove. So when all is said and done I just had to pay for a new set of rings and the time to re-fit them. I will pick it up tomorrow morning and the process to put this thing together will start again.

Certainly dodged a bullet this time... lesson learned.

--Jeff
 
#14 ·
Well Jeff, you beat me to it. I was going to agree 100% with Mike (even before seeing the pictures). Take it to your machinist, have it lightly honed and put it together.
Although, I can't help but believe that you SHOULD have been able to find just a single oil ring set. But, that's OK.

Several years ago, I had exactly the same thing happen. Honed it, got a single oil ring set and put 'er together. Ran great, no problems.
It is not possible to tell you how careful I am these days to be absolutely certain that the ring compressor is TIGHT against the cylinder deck!!! ;)
 
#15 ·
What Al said, thanks for the results.

Are you using a tapered sleeve ring compressor? Or some kind of one where you tighten up a band some way or the other? I recommend the tapered sleeve deal.
 
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Discussion starter · #16 ·
I am using the tapered sleeve. It looked like the most straight-forward way to do it. I must have been paying more attention to lining up the rods from below then looking to make sure everything was snug on top.
 
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JM
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