1/16" vs 5/64" piston rings

[customfab]

I'm building a 383 stroker and was just told by my machinist that he does not recommend using my Speed Pro forged pistons due to the ring thickness. They have 1/16,1/16,3/16 rings. He said the motor will only be good for about 5000 miles. Also, mentioned that I could use Total Seal rings but that would only extend things to about 20,000 miles. Either way, he said this will in no way be a 100,000 mile motor.
Does anyone have experience running thinner rings and seeing a loss in compression or accelerated wear?

[fastTa]

I'm building a 383 stroker and was just told by my machinist that he does not recommend using my Speed Pro forged pistons due to the ring thickness. They have 1/16,1/16,3/16 rings. He said the motor will only be good for about 5000 miles. Also, mentioned that I could use Total Seal rings but that would only extend things to about 20,000 miles. Either way, he said this will in no way be a 100,000 mile motor.
Does anyone have experience running thinner rings and seeing a loss in compression or accelerated wear?

1/16, 1/16, 3/16 ring sets are very common for street/strip motors. They will in no way at all shorten the life of your motor unless they are installes incorrectly of course, But that is hard to do.

If I were you I would seek the help of someone who has experience in building motors. If he can only guarantee you 5k out of a motor.

Total Seal Rings are no good.

Even with the so called "gapless" second ring there is still a gap on the 2 piece Total Seal interlocking ring that should be gapped properly. I guess you haven't had the rings out of the box yet.

Even when using the Total Seal rings it is only the second ring that is different from a standard setup. The compression ring (top) ring and oil control ring sets are the same. Well kinda.

The issue with total seals is that they attempt to use the second ring as the compression ring when it is normally desgined to function as basically an oil scraper. When you use the second ring as a compression ring it creates a high pressure area during the compression stroke between the first and second ring. That pressure unloads the top ring and as a result high rpm flutter will occur and significant power loss can be a result as well... Not to mention cylinder wall scarring.

Then you must use a high tension oil control ring set because of the lack of the second ring doing it's intended job as an oil scraper. That also will cause power loss.

Additionally Total Seal claims to reduce blowby. Unfortunately they only performed their leakdown tests without the motor running. How convenient. We all know that blowby occurs while the motor is running. With the use of Total Seal second rings, crankcase pressure goes up, oil consumption goes up, and again power loss goes up with it.

Lots of f-body speed shops tried the Total Seals when they first got popular and found out that they were basically crap.

[Joe 1320]

I'm building a 383 stroker and was just told by my machinist that he does not recommend using my Speed Pro forged pistons due to the ring thickness. They have 1/16,1/16,3/16 rings. He said the motor will only be good for about 5000 miles. Also, mentioned that I could use Total Seal rings but that would only extend things to about 20,000 miles. Either way, he said this will in no way be a 100,000 mile motor.
Does anyone have experience running thinner rings and seeing a loss in compression or accelerated wear?

My advice is to find another engine builder. If he can't build something that is going to last, find someone else who will.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Where are you located at. You might find someone on the board who can recommend someone in your area.

[customfab]

Thanks for the recommendation guys but I have total confidence in my machininst. Plus, he only does the machine work itself. I've planned this thing and will blueprint myself. This guy has tested new piston designs for KB/Silvolite and has been building strokers before they were even called strokers. He's just honest, doesn't bullshit and knows his stuff very, very well. I'm actually very thankful that him mentioned something about my forged pistons. It is tough to find people like this.