Piston Rings -- Which Way Is Up

[Suzuki_Don]

Hi Guys. I have a couple of questions.
I have just received my piston rings for the 550 from the US. They are made by a company called TEIKOKU PISTON RING CO. LTD. Anyone heard of them. Are they OE manufacturers. There are 2 compression rings. One has a bright surface where it contacts the bore and the other ring has a black surface, this one also has a yellow dot on the surface that contacts the bore as well. The ring with the bright surface has a 50 stamped on one side of the gap and on the other side of the gap a T is stamped (on the upper surface of the ring). On the black surfaced ring there is a 50 stamped on it as well. These rings are 0.5mm O/S so I assume the 50 stands for that. Does anyone know if these rings need to go on the piston in a special order and does it matter which surface is facing up or down.
Sorry if this sounds jumbled and doesn't make too much sense. Let me know if you can't make sense of it and I will try and clarify.

Don

[Guest]

...as far as i remember... both the order and the facing does matter!
the lettering goes on top and the black ring is second from top
mind you, i've done this last time a year ago, so let's wait for some more experinced people to comment
oh, your manual should tell you this... you don't have a manual

[Suzuki_Don]

Yeah I have a number, but too lazy to look it up. I"m at work and the 3 manuals are at home. It makes sense what you said though, in the packet the shiny ring was on top and the T on it would likely mean top. Thanks for your reply.

[jgordon]

...as far as i remember... both the order and the facing does matter!
the lettering goes on top and the black ring is second from top
mind you, i've done this last time a year ago, so let's wait for some more experinced people to comment
oh, your manual should tell you this... you don't have a manual

He's right, The shiny ring is the very top one and the darker one is the second ring ( Letters or numbers on the top ). You gotta check your ring end gap before putting your motor back together. This is a very important step!

[Suzuki_Don]

He's right, The shiny ring is the very top one and the darker one is the second ring ( Letters or numbers on the top ). You gotta check your ring end gap before putting your motor back together. This is a very important step!

Thanks J Gordon from Bakersfield. If the ring gap is too tight do I just file the end of the ring by putting it in the vice till I get the correct gap when in the bore. The end gap is 0.004" to 0.012" so is it best to go for the middle of these tolerances. e.g. 0.008". 4 thou seems tight to me for ring gap. What do you think.

[Guest]

He's right...

ha, no alzheimer memory loss here yet \\/

also, i think that the two edges on the top ring are a bit different, one is square and the other one is slightly curved. might not be visible to a naked eye though.

[Suzuki_Don]

ha, no alzheimer memory loss here yet \\/

also, i think that the two edges on the top ring are a bit different, one is square and the other one is slightly curved. might not be visible to a naked eye though.

Yeah I'm glad it hasn't set in yet too.
Do I take two or three sugars in my coffee!!!!!!!!!

[jgordon]

Thanks J Gordon from Bakersfield. If the ring gap is too tight do I just file the end of the ring by putting it in the vice till I get the correct gap when in the bore. The end gap is 0.004" to 0.012" so is it best to go for the middle of these tolerances. e.g. 0.008". 4 thou seems tight to me for ring gap. What do you think.

Someone needs to check the book for you but most of the time it needs to be about 0.012 .

Don't put the ring in the vice, put the file in the vice and pinch the ring down so that you are filing both sides at the same time. Use a small fine course file and a good one so that it removes a little material from the ring at a time. Push the ring down in the center of the cylinder bore using the piston so that it is in there nice and even and then check the end gap.

Cheers

[Suzuki_Don]

Someone needs to check the book for you but most of the time it needs to be about 0.012 .

Don't put the ring in the vice, put the file in the vice and pinch the ring down so that you are filing both sides at the same time. Use a small fine course file and a good one so that it removes a little material from the ring at a time. Push the ring down in the center of the cylinder bore using the piston so that it is in there nice and even and then check the end gap.

Cheers

Thanks for that J Gordon. will follow your instructions.