[cr480r]

Recently had a cam lobe failure on a flat tappet. I tore the engine down to setup my new valve train, and I disassembled the short block to clean the components and replace the bearings and pump. My engine had under 1000 miles, and now i have a couple people telling me i cannot reuse my rings since i removed them from the bores.. They claim the rings have hardened with use and may crack.. They are total seal TS1'S and I really dont want to replace them with such little use. They had under 5% leakage(cold), Its very close to christmas, and i just spent a bunch on a HYD roller setup. What do you guys think?

 

[cr480r]

they are total seal brand with gapless 2nd. TS1. Rings are still on the pistons & the rods are marked.

 

[[email protected]]

If you replace pistons/rings in the same bore they came from. The rings will be alright to re-use. They will seal up and give no problems. I've seen it done dozens of times..

 

[timothale]

reuse?

years ago when my brother was doing a lot of racing he would pull the engine apart every couple months clean up everything remove any carbon, polish the valves. He would just do a glaze breaker lightly on the cylinder walls and reuse the rings, back to the same bores.

 

[1Gary]

Got mixed feelings about this one.I hear ya about the leakdown test being cold 5%.Btw-thumbs up for doing the leaddown.Yet they where exposed to the fragments of the failed lifters too. Got me wondering what a leakdown would be hot. I guess you could get lucky.Maybe you wait until after the holiday's costs and then get back to it with a fresh set of rings.It's a $100.00 save bet.

 

[vinniekq2]

I ve reused rings a few times,not on an engine that took damage.how much is a set of rings and your time worth? try it?

 

[cr480r]

Thanks for the opinions guys. Think I am going to chance it. The TS1's are $250 dollars these days, these are already gapped and i am just not ready to give up on them yet. I knew from the start there was some risk of them not sealing again and i am ok with that. The local racers i spoke with just made it seem like there was little to no chance of success so I felt the need to seek a few more opinions. The debris was only from one lobe and it was caught early. Basically i just pulled it apart to clean the block so that nothing gets in the new lifters (went to hydraulic rollers).. my bearings were actually pretty good, and i might even be tempted to use them again if i hadnt already bought the parts and have it on the stand.. I will say I am now a firm believer of using magnets on the walls of the pan sump, eliminating the bypass in the adapter, and using 1794 filters. My oil drained out fairly clean, and the magnets and filter were definately working.