Piston Rings...Zero Gap?
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St. Jude Donor '07-'08
Piston Rings...Zero Gap?
Apparently Zero Gap piston rings is all the rage for the supra boys. I'm curious what they are and what's recommended for the Ls1?
Thanks,
Chris
Thanks,
Chris
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From: ================== Houston, Texas www.englandgreen.com ================== Necessary Evil™ __________
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St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14
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From: Vancouver WA
I have used Total Seal and Childs & Alberts ZGS rings. The second ring is zero gap. IMO, I liked the Childs & Alberts better myself. Total Seal uses a steel "oil wiper" ring with the special machined second ring that has a lip machined on it all the way around for the steel "Wiper" ring to fit on top. The C&A machines a step on each end, and they overlap with each other, so the rest of the ring is normal. .
Le Mans Master
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From: Metro Detroit Michigan
Been using them on non-Corvette blower motors for years with good results. It's fun having a fresh engine with zero leakdown, and having leakdown stay very low for a long time.
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St. Jude Donor '07-'08
so the Childs & Alberts ZGS rings, will work on a new Ls1, and is something i should pursue?
Pro
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From: Nevada
I have heard a gapless second ring is not good because any blowby that gets past the top ring will get trapped and cause ring flutter. I have also heard horror stories of oil seals getting sucked in etc, I dont have personal experience with this but have heard it from numerous sources. Also LS1 tech has info on there site as well.
Les
Les
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Just because I've never had the Corvette apart, and I felt that the combination was pretty well proven for what I was using it on.
I'm using Total Seal on a blown, nitrous 1000 hp pump gas big block 502" endurance motor (not drag).
"Gapless" might be of greater benefit as bore size increases though.
"Loboost", I'm not sure I'd know if I had ring flutter or not, unless it would somehow show on a teardown. There appears to be zero oil comsuption, but total hours are pretty low so some consumption might go un-noticed.
I'm using Total Seal on a blown, nitrous 1000 hp pump gas big block 502" endurance motor (not drag).
"Gapless" might be of greater benefit as bore size increases though.
"Loboost", I'm not sure I'd know if I had ring flutter or not, unless it would somehow show on a teardown. There appears to be zero oil comsuption, but total hours are pretty low so some consumption might go un-noticed.
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From: Houston, Tx Got traction?
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St. Jude Donor '07-'08
How do the Zero gap respond to the higher milage? I'm really hoping to over build a solid blower moter and drive the snot out of it <lower boost> for many many more miles to come.
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From: Vancouver WA
I have heard a gapless second ring is not good because any blowby that gets past the top ring will get trapped and cause ring flutter. I have also heard horror stories of oil seals getting sucked in etc, I dont have personal experience with this but have heard it from numerous sources. Also LS1 tech has info on there site as well.
Les
Les
Oil seals gettting sucked in?
You need to look and understand the reason for the gap! The piston ring gap is there to allow for expansion. If everything is perfect, there should be near zero gap when the rings are up to full temp.. Motors running lots of boost, makes lots of heat, which will expand the ring even more. So more gap has to be put in the ring gap. So now, when the motor is cold, you have a huge ring gap. The gapless 2nd ring will help seal off the leaking gas from the upper ring gap for when the upper ring gap is still open. IF people are getting ring flutter, then it's probably because they have too much ring gap on the upper ring, or running the motor too cold.
Also, Totalseal rings has to have a particular hone finish. If it's not installed correctly, it will cause problems.
