Replacing Pistons Rings

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civicracer901

Senior Member
Can someone with experience tell me the level of replacing rings on pistons? 1-10? rate it. Maybe a site that could show me how with pitures. Does the whole motor have to be removed to do this?
 
You should have someone hone the cylinder walls. Which means the engine has to come out. If you have never done this before then I would rate it a 7 or an 8. (Unless you have a friend that has done it or a Helms manual). If you have done if before or have someone helping that has then it can be a 4 or 5.
 
Well iam kinda thinking of doing it myself,only cause I know the best way to learn is to do it yourself. why would I need to hone the cylinder walls? no, how about what is the difference between honning and boreing the cylinder walls? I have a helms manual for a 95 integra. Would the specs on the 93 ls block be the same as the 95's as far as honning in the right pattern or whatever? Iam going to have like a week to do this. I know it wont take that long but nothing ever goes as planed the first time without help.And does anyone know about what my compression should be at with a bulilt lsvtec with itr pistons with ls rods (not sure on the rods) and a 00 crv crankshaft? I dont konw if that matters but I did a cr test last night it was from right to left

c1@180psi
C2@200
c3@200
c4@210
any ideas,advise please.
 
Bore is removing material to make the cylinder bigger (increasing the bore). Honing is roughing the cylinder wall to allow rings to seat (it removes a little material but not much). Honing pattern depends onthe rings that you install, but if you use Honda rings then I imagine the patter is the same from 93 to 95 (I think that use the same piston rings). It could take all week, it depends on how long it take you to pull the engine and disassemble it. Give yourself a lot of time (it's better to have more time than you need than not enough).

Did you buy this engine already built?
 
yes I did, it has the 93 ls block with oversized itr's. I think its 84.mm bore. ?? dont know. I will most likely have someone do this for me and hopfully he will let me watch and learn a bit. It would probably be about $350 to do all this for me in a day or two. The rings are probably going to be about $100 or a little bit more. I really wish I could do this myself, I have never removed a whole motor before, cause if there was another way to doing this without doing so like just removing the head and oil pan etc.. and doing it that way. I heard that it is possibabe to install pistons that way.
 
Unless you have it sleeved you are not running an 84mm bore. The LS sleeve is not thick enough to run that large of a bore. Ring cost depends on what ringd you buy. Unless you buy real high dollar rings like Total Seal or something similar they shouldn't cost more than $100. Are you sure you are running ITR pistons, and not B16 pistons? B16 pistons actually yeild a higher CR in that setup. You can install pistons buy just removing the head and oil pan/windage tray. But you can't take the engine to a machine shop to have it honed with the block still in the car.
 
Originally posted by civicracer901@Jan 21 2003, 09:43 PM
I will most likely have someone do this for me and hopfully he will let me watch and learn a bit. It would probably be about $350 to do all this for me in a day or two.

IMO That is a standard price and worth it to learn. It's not hard to crack a piston or ring if you don't know how to compress the rings correctly.
 
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AND PULL THE MOTOR OUT. RIP IT APART YOUR SELF. tAKE THE SHORT BLOCK TO THE MACHINE SHOP AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. iF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME DOING THIS AND DO NOT HAVE EXPERIENCED HELP YOU WILL "F" SOMETHING UP. SAVES MONEY IN THE LONG RUN.
 
Dude, lose the caps.
caps.gif
 
1. Pull engine
2. Pull head
3. Pull oil pan
4. Unbolt rods
5. Remove pistons/rods
6. Remove old rings
7. Install new rings
8. Hone cylinder walls
9. Press pistons back into block
10. Reconnect rods to crank
11. Install oil pan
12. Install head
13. Install engine
14. Add all new fluids
15. Break the sucker in

I'm sure there's some stuff missing in there... but it shouldn't take you more than an hour. Easy as PIE. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

If you're not sure about it, pull the engine and get a machine shop that knows what they're doing to replace the rings for you.
 
Easy to hone your own engine, just finished doing mine and completely rebuilding it too, just take your time, you will be fine. Also, if you do it your self, go to advance auto parts or somethin like that and buy a hone, they are only about twenty bucks, be sure you keep your cylinder walls lubricated with somethin like wd40 (i used john deere penetrating fluid). and try to cover the crank somehow if you leave the motor in car or even if you pull it so you dont get debris and shit on it. make sure you compress the rings real well and if they hesitate to go in, stop and put the compressor on again, you wouldnt wanna f... up a new set of rings. also rings may need to be filed depending upon you application, they make a special tool to file rings, i just used a regular hand file, be sure to file inwards so you dont chip the outsides of the rings, then use a feeler gauge to check the gap. Pretty easy to do if you ask me. i would recommend doing it yourself for experience, fun, and then you know what you got done. remember to take pics, they are always cool after ur done. Take ur time, u will be fine.
 
I just did a b all you really need to worry about is talking your time using tones of ASSEMELEY LUBE (use this if you don’t plan on starting the engine the same day you reassemble it) normal oil/ wd40 will drip off over time assembly lube does not.
Get a ring compressor there like 12 bucks or less and an old chuck of garden hose cut it into 1-2 inch pieces for reassembly you place them on the rod bolts so the don’t damage the crank. You will need a torque wrench to do this do not attempt without. For a do it your selfer the engine removal will take 4 hours or so and will require a host of some kind. An engine stand is a must (40-50) bucks for a 750lb stand. It takes about 1 hour to get it on the stand you need to unbolt the tranny then off with the head the oil pan and unbolt the rods pull the pistons re ring and hone the reinstall it takes a day to do this a very long day and you will need a buddy to help the put it back in the car. On a scale of 1-10 it is about a 7 for a do it your selfer and could take up to a week so you should have lots of time.
 
Originally posted by hcivic.com@Jan 28 2003, 08:59 AM
...For a do it your selfer the engine removal will take 4 hours or so...

Four hours if your on qualudes,and smoking pot.
 
Unless you have someone with experience to help you out I would just send everything out to get done. ringing pistons has to be done right the first time or else you have to start from scratch at best. If you do decide to try it, then hone the cylinder walls with the hone that looks like 3 sharpening stones. Be sure to gap the rings correctly, and use the softest set of rings you can find because they will seat the easiest
 
Originally posted by civicracer901@Jan 21 2003, 04:02 PM

c1@180psi
C2@200
c3@200
c4@210
any ideas,advise please.

thats really not that bad...
the 180 is a little off compared to the others, but still not that bad.

the bad ones look like this:

45
250
10
175

lol

remeber- its the VARIANCE in between that is the issue, not how high each is. less than 10% is said to be ideal. you aren't out of that more than 1%
 
before you re ring i suggest you preforme a leak down test it will tell you were you are lossing comp also retest the comp . it could be due to valves head gasket and many other things and a leakdown test will help you to tell for sure what the problem is and you cn buy a leak dwn testor for 25 bucks
 
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