an engine ring job and how mistakes are easily made

Hi Bob..thanks for all the information it helps.. I have a short story for you..during the 60's I worked as a mechanic while drag racing on the side..a friend who was somewhat new to mechanics decided to rebuild his motor..after the engine was reassembled he fired it up an it ran so smooth a nickle could be placed on the manifold upright..throttling the motor it jumped to 9000 rpm's instantly..sounded really good..then he took it for a drive an came back saying he couldnt get over 30 mph..several of us mechanics took a look an we couldnt find anything wrong..new carbs..fuel flow was right..new manifold..new timing chain an the marks were right also..so we swapped distributors with a known good one..no difference..clutch an tranny were new too an adjusted properly..leaving us baffled..finally one mechanic said hey check his compression..the compression was 60 pds not 160 pds..the funny part of this is,we asked about how he put in the pistons an he said I know its right cause i was sure to line up all the rings in a straight row facing the notch in the pistons"..lol..which of course you know they need to be staggered..we fixed it in short order an it ran great afterwards..

thank you once again... A.W.Smith aquarin@bellsouth.net

Message me at BobHewitt@Misterfixit.com

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