zero gap piston rings

[USMC_Turbo6]

What do you guys think about zero gap piston rings?
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[DailyDrifter]

I've heard of them breaking if they arent clearanced right. A little blow by isnt necessarily bad IMO.

 

[disco stu]

A little blowby in these always seems like it ends up being alot. Last motor had 4% leakdown and still had oil contamination issues and oil out of the breathers etc. Going gapless this time.

I've use Total Seal gapless tops with great success. Clean oil, and always next to no leakdown. And almost no oil getting pushed out of the motor.

 

[bison]

A little blowby in these always seems like it ends up being alot. Last motor had 4% leakdown and still had oil contamination issues and oil out of the breathers etc. Going gapless this time.

I've use Total Seal gapless tops with great success. Clean oil, and always next to no leakdown. And almost no oil getting pushed out of the motor.

Under high boost you will still have blow by. The cylinders dont stay round at high cylinder pressures with stock blocks. Oil will stay cleaner with gapless. If you had oil contamination then it most likely wasnt the compression rings that were a problem. Cylinder finish, type of ring, and piston to wall clearance play a large role. Ive used gapless successfully but there was no power gain with them

 

[LOT]

On a street-strip eng.

I found that the small thin ring on the gapless ring wore fast. Still sealed up well.

 

[USMC_Turbo6]

brand

Thank you all you help!!!!!!!! What's the best brand to buy

 

[Norwellcliff]

It seems that life is full of annoying little gaps. The credibility gap and that annoying gap between David Lettermans front teeth. For hot rodders, theres also the gap between ring ends on each ring in each cylinder of your engine. The gap is there to allow you to install the ring on a piston, but it also serves as a wonderful path for cylinder pressure to escape from the combustion chamber.

 

[turbofabricator]

I would NOT recommend top ring gapless due to heat issues causing the thin ring to slack, BAD. I've seen a top gapless fail with-in minutes on a high power engine.

I also don't like a 2nd gapless, either. They are reported to cause top ring flutter. Read up on them on speedtalk.com Most top engine builder don't like them. (some do, though) On a turbo engine I REALLY don't like the idea of a ultra thin top ring combo. Too much heat on it. What rings do NHRA Pro-Stock guys run? Reportedly standard rings. Is there any hosepower in gapless? Not that I have ever heard. Are they worth the money? Not that I have ever heard, at least objectively. Most guys that swear by them, are the ones that got suckered into buying them.
There is also ALOT of stuff happening to all the rings at high boost. I personally have used Dykes rings, gapless,and standard, and I really cannot quantify a gain/loss in either. Blow-by WILL happen. Over 1000 psi under boost to try and keep sealed up.
Give them a try and do your best to quantify a result. Hard to do, but let us all know.
If there is a ton of blow-by, just turn the boost up a pound or two to make up for it. A turbo covers LOTS of mistakes. (thank God):biggrin:

 

[wbrophy]

Ditto, imho.

I have tried both types of gapless rings more then once because I like giving things a chance, they sound like the best thing since sliced bread. More people have had bad results then good overall. Well after a few times around the block I will not use gapless again even if they were FREE!!!
"Good luck" but remember you were warned.

 

[Boost231]

I have tried both types of gapless rings more then once because I like giving things a chance, they sound like the best thing since sliced bread. More people have had bad results then good overall. Well after a few times around the block I will not use gapless again even if they were FREE!!!
"Good luck" but remember you were warned.

great post. i have tried several myself,had problems every time. put a normal set in and no problems since

 

[USMC_Turbo6]

Thanks for all the help.

 

[disco stu]

I would NOT recommend top ring gapless due to heat issues causing the thin ring to slack, BAD. I've seen a top gapless fail with-in minutes on a high power engine.

I also don't like a 2nd gapless, either. They are reported to cause top ring flutter. Read up on them on speedtalk.com Most top engine builder don't like them. (some do, though) On a turbo engine I REALLY don't like the idea of a ultra thin top ring combo. Too much heat on it. What rings do NHRA Pro-Stock guys run? Reportedly standard rings. Is there any hosepower in gapless? Not that I have ever heard. Are they worth the money? Not that I have ever heard, at least objectively. Most guys that swear by them, are the ones that got suckered into buying them.
There is also ALOT of stuff happening to all the rings at high boost. I personally have used Dykes rings, gapless,and standard, and I really cannot quantify a gain/loss in either. Blow-by WILL happen. Over 1000 psi under boost to try and keep sealed up.
Give them a try and do your best to quantify a result. Hard to do, but let us all know.
If there is a ton of blow-by, just turn the boost up a pound or two to make up for it. A turbo covers LOTS of mistakes. (thank God):biggrin:

ORLY? Hmm, I had over 200 passes and lots of street driving on a motor running mid nines. Ring and cylinder wear was good. Oil was always clean. and seemed to make decent power.