<VV> Advice on Rings

[Mark Corbin]

Tom knows how to put in the rings. He's worked with that brand ring many
times. So I doubt that is the problem. I'm wondering if there's something
wrong with the heads. I looked over one of them before they were installed,
and I was not impressed. Neither was Tom.

-Mark

> [Original Message]
> From: Jay Pitchford <jay.pitchford at gmail.com>
> Subject: <VV> Advice on Rings (was Help - Oil Out Dipstick Tube)
>
> The PCV system was clear. A compression check was done, and it showed
> 145-150 lbs on three of the six cylinders. Two of the other three
> showed ~90 lbs, and one was ~65 lbs. My mechanic Tom drove the car a
> bit more, taking out to the 4-lane and opening it up a bit.
>
> He reported back late in the day Friday 9/3 that the blow-by had
> reduced drastically, and that perhaps we had the rings seating in. He
> offered me the car for the holiday weekend, which I went and picked
> up. The premise was I'd put ~300 miles on it and bring it back up to
> him for another compression check and hot adjust on the valves, which
> had been cold adjusted to within a 1/4 turn per Tom.
>
> One bank ... the one reading two cylinders low ... was smoking a bit,
> but our thought was maybe the rings were still seating. I drove it
> carefully, generally 3500 revs or less, but never over 4000 while
> upshifting. The mild Isky cam had 5k miles on it already, so that
> wasn't a concern.
>
> 48 hours and 150 miles after picking it up, I started it and blew
> clouds of oil smoke out of the bank, the one that was slightly smoking
> earlier. Temp stayed normal; no oil light; no clatter other than a
> slight valve tick expected before the hot adjust. I'm convinced I just
> blew one of my brand-new rings, and I'm hoping it didn't score the
> brand-new full fin jug.
>
> Question: Is it possible to put a ring in 'backwards'? If so, you
> figure a guy that doesn't know the difference would have a 50/50
> chance at it ... and I was reading low on exactly three cylinders
> after a ground-up rebuild.
>
> Any thoughts and/or advice would be appreciated.
>
> Jay
>