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Old 01-22-2011 | 03:58 PM
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supertib
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From: , MB, CANADA
Default RE: when to replace the sleeve and piston?


ORIGINAL: DaveG55

Well supertib, that's good to know, thanks. Other than you there are very few other people on RCU that I would believe on this subject.
I've got an old marine engine that I may try it on.
Any reccomendations on a good service?
Any idea on service life of a repinched p/s compared to a new set?

I am not sized to do anything larger then a 28-32.... if the marine engine is larger then RayA Racing may be tooled up to do the work...

Lifespan is all dependant on how tight the engine is pinched... If i pinch the engine tight, it will take about 1 gallon to breakin and will behave just like a new tight Italian engine... I have a Werk's B5 here that we have pinched twice...and its on the 2nd gallon since its last pinch and the engine is still notching at TDC and holds full compression..on the dyno it makes just over 2 HP and seems to run as good or better then a new one..... On some of the new OS engines the first batch were too loose from factory IMO..so I tightened up a few and they have been running flawlessly since...... However pinching is very very tricky to do properly...if you don't pinch the sleeve enough the pinch wont hold, a few tanks and your right back to where you started...too tight and good luck getting the engine to turn over.... The line between too loose and too tight is very very fine....... I am also tooled to lap the pistons to size if needed, and on some engines that have piston damage I will over tighten the sleeve, then size the piston accordingly..... All in all it is a good method if you have the right tooling and the finesse to find the sweet spot.... On my equipment its better to go slightly on the tighter side, it seems to last a very long time doing it that way...