Piston ring install issues.

[Hipster]

OK! The new rings came in and they fit like a glove.

I'm still, however, short one piston. This is because IDIOT me tried making my own wrist pin removal tool out of wood. Let me tell you all how well that worked.... it didn't. I ended up cracking both junkyard pistons. Nothing gained, nothing lost, really. Just time and lessons learned.

HOWEVER... I went to Advance Auto for something totally unrelated, and the one counterman there knows his stuff. I asked him if he knew where to get 1 SBC piston. At that point, I heard a voice behind me ask "which 350?" I explained the details and the person recommended Napa of all places. Didn't someone suggest that earlier in this same thread?

Well, I went to Napa after work today and sure as sh17, the counterman had it nailed down to two part numbers.... but no written difference between deep or shallow oil groove. He said bring the old one in and we'll match it up.

Good thing I haven't thrown anything out yet.

yet you keep disregarding my advice, it's not like I havn't been through this before when I dropped a piston on the floor and it bent,.......A man that thinks he knows it all can learn nothing. You were confident in a you tube video you mentioned on how to r&I [pistons. How did that work out? Pistons when not supported by the bore are quite fragile. what happened? Both places turn you down? I warned that it was no easy task that machine shops won't always take on. I recommended Napa, because not all , but there's a chance you might find a decent counterman that will dig out the books and at least look for you. It's hard not to think your're an idiot at this point. Everything I have said to to to this point has been spot on. You've really made a big mess of this thus far. Time to back up and regroup.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Let me guess: That would increase compression ratio and make the valves slap the top of the piston... oh wait.. need valve reliefs.

NOPE! Flat top pistons come with valve relief they simply aren't dished another 12ccs, look it up

Have you ever heard of a ZZ4 engine? What about domed pistons with a long duration cam? There's still clearance there too. All you're doing is increasing compression by a little (maybe 9:1 depending on deck height and gasket thickness) plus a couple HP. It'll still run on 87 octane too.

 

[Schurkey]

1. Regarding "deep" ring grooves vs. "shallow" ring grooves. If you order the pistons to suit the METRIC ring pack you almost certainly have, you'll almost certainly get the shallow ring grooves you need. LOOK at the rings specified for the "deep groove" pistons. I bet they're not metric rings.

TBI engines use a 2mm, 1.5mm, 4mm ring pack.
Vortec engines use 1.5mm, 1.5mm, 3mm ring pack.

2. If you find a DECENT COUNTERPERSON and order a piston to fit a '94 K1500 5.7L, you'll almost certainly get the correct piston. For Example:
www.summitracing.com/parts/uem-s3471h-std/make/chevrolet/model/c1500/year/1994

1994 CHEVROLET C1500 Silvolite S3471H.STD Silv-O-Lite Hypereutectic Pistons | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Silv-O-Lite Hypereutectic Pistons with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Pistons at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

You'll have to be aware of the compression height, though. Typical aftermarket pistons are sabotaged with short compression heights--typically .010 or .020 short.

3. The machine shop I use tells me that under the best of circumstances, there's no guarantee that he can push a piston off of a press-fit connecting rod without screwing-up the piston.

Given the problems with price, availability, compression height, and ring packs, your best option is to get a used-but-good piston, pin AND ROD AND ROD CAP from a Treasure Yard engine.

 

[Hipster]

Stock and very few aftermarket ones spec at 1.56 compression height. Most replacement pistons spec out at1.54 compression height to maintain stock cr ratios after block decking.

 

[DeCaff2007]

Given the problems with price, availability, compression height, and ring packs, your best option is to get a used-but-good piston, pin AND ROD AND ROD CAP from a Treasure Yard engine.

Which I HAD, in my hand, ready to go... but then IDIOT me thought I had to match the rod to the crank journal, so off came the piston, to be pressed on the ORIGINAL rod... and it was damaged in the process.

All this because I just wasn't paying attention in the beginning.

 

[DeCaff2007]

AHAHAHA! Ebay to the rescue. Just had to scroll through 10 pages and wait a week for it to get here (even though it shipped from the same state I live in), but I finally found a NIB, standard bore, and shallow oil groove, piston.

This one is going STRAIGHT to the machine shop.

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[DeCaff2007]

So, a small update here. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I figured while I'm waiting for the machine shop to press my parts together, I'd use that time to install the other 7 pistons/conrods. That went down without a hitch. Seriously. Everything fell right into place this time.

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I think we all know why the #1 piston/conrod isn't present here, lol.

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...and then of course here's the bottom end.

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In order to help prevent rust, I didn't clean up any of the oil spillage on the rest of the block nor the cylinders. I will do that before it's time to clean gasket mating surfaces and/or paint the block.

Now, the bad news. The shop I took my parts to, while much closer to home than my normal choice in machinist, is also only a part-time guy. This means I'm probably going to have to wait clear until Thursday of next week to get my stuff back.

Whatever. I guess it's worth the wait to know that it's done right.

 

[DeCaff2007]

GRRRRR!@#$% Now I'm pissed!!! I got my parts back from the machine shop today. All seemed well. I went to install the rings... 3rd groove went on like butter. Ok, let's get the piston ring installation tool and spread the 2nd ring for installation.... SNAP!!!! The ring shattered into 3 pieces. FCK!!

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I looked EVERYWHERE to source another ring set to have for TODAY. No where, I mean no where has this stuff anymore. Rock Auto or Summit Racing. That's it. Either way, I'm not getting this installed today. BALLS!@#$%

 

[Supercharged111]

GRRRRR!@#$% Now I'm pissed!!! I got my parts back from the machine shop today. All seemed well. I went to install the rings... 3rd groove went on like butter. Ok, let's get the piston ring installation tool and spread the 2nd ring for installation.... SNAP!!!! The ring shattered into 3 pieces. FCK!!

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I looked EVERYWHERE to source another ring set to have for TODAY. No where, I mean no where has this stuff anymore. Rock Auto or Summit Racing. That's it. Either way, I'm not getting this installed today. BALLS!@#$%

What about the machine shop? My local shop that's now closed used to be able to get that stuff the next day.

 

[DeCaff2007]

What about the machine shop? My local shop that's now closed used to be able to get that stuff the next day.

They were the first phone call I made. Came up empty. I even gave them a part number and the babbling idiot on the other end of the phone said something about special order from the manufacture. Even Rock Auto says "should arrive by May 8." Where the EFF are these parts coming from, East Jebip??