I have used them in several high end race motors and will never go back! My new street engine that I'm currently wraping up will use the toatl-seal street rings vs. the typical File-2-Fit standard rings. They cost a bit more but really do the job! I went from 2 to 3 percent leakage down to 0 percent on the race motor..... Use total seal rings rather than the Childs and Albert versions! Good Luck! THE-SYNDICATE
I used Total Seal rings in my last full rebuild of my stroker 351 several years ago. It's probably got 60-80K miles on that engine now (been in several cars/trucks) and still runs strong w/no smoking despite the bores being slightly worn and the normal rings beginning to show their age w/larger gaps. Still minimal blow-by after all these hard miles. I say go for it. C&A ZGS are also very good, but more expensive than Total Seal.
Like you guys say they cost a little more,but for me I'll never use std rings again.They seal so much better and don't seam to lay down after long miles,--TV
They have less leakdown, make more power, better fuel effiecency. I prefer the gapless top ring from total seal. When using the gapless second ring it does all the above but not as well. When the gapless ring is on the seond groove it causes to much pressure between the two rings and it makes the top ring unseat and puts all of the work on the second ring. If anything the second ring should have a bit more gap than the top ring to allow this pressure to escape. The gapless top ring in my opinion is the way to go.Shawn
Two Questions; 1. Are they available for flathead engines. 2. How do they work? (ends overlap?) OK, so it was three!!
Here's a pic of how they're configured, but I don't know if they make 'em for a flathead... Some more info on gapless rings: http://www.totalseal.com/gaplesss.html http://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/perf/987.html
Total seal makes them for anything. Them actually don't sell them by application they sell them by size( 4.000 bore, 1/16" 1/16" 3/16" etc.) I put a lot of them on briggs & Stratton engines in the past. juss to give you an idea aof what the make them for. their web site is www.totalseal.com Shawn
I saw no advantage in my race engines...they were expensive and the would "lie" to you. Essentially you could leak the motor @ <1% and still have major damage under the ring. With conventional rings and say .020 end gap (cold) how big is the actual hole at temp? Not very big... The biggest problem we faced was not enough end gap...the rings would butt. This turns round rings to ovals. Eventually we ran .040 top ring end-gap sometimes more.
I have used them and my leakdown was always under 2%. The thing I don't understand is if they did all the things that the manufacturer states, why wouldn't they be used by all of the auto makers to comply with ever tightening regulations for mileage and emissions. I still use them in a race motor even though I still wonder about the benefit. Like stated I have always used only the top ring being gapless. Never experienced the butting of the ends during operations. I guess I made sure I followed the maunufacturers recommendation. I don't see them being to expensive to use, when you consider the price you end up spending for a total engine these days.
I had them in a claimer motor that was bored .040 and I only had .030 pistons. Rings came with the block and I had the pistons, assembled and fired Thursday night, ran it for the next 5 Fridays until it got claimed. Watered the oil down slightly more than a "normal" setup but I picked up 3-400 rpm. Won several heats and one main with that sucker. Dave
run gapless top ring napier second and low tension oil ring in a blown alky bbc leak down always good won't change until something better comes out
Gapless rings are no power advantage based on what I see on the dyno--they were invented for dirt track engines that eat dirt and wear like crazy--yes your engine will pass a leak down check and look wonderful--No it will not make any more power in most cases--Yes they are expensive--very easy to screw up on installation and for the average hot rodder a bad idea--Lindberg flew over the Atlantic in an antique cast ring junker compared to what we have today--old school works and works cheap--I have never ever seen a man win a race because he had gapless rings--it is just silly for the average guy to redesign an engine that Detroit spent a $$$$$$$ on with the best engineers they could get--- I can take an old worn block a customer discards--rehone and use std old FTF rings and make great dependable HP cheap. Tricks are for kids ( and the guys selling tricks ) The truth is that the great leak check test they provide does NOT translate into more HP when those things are fluttering at 7500 RPM based on the many I have seen. Even if it did what could it be ? a couple? a few? for all that extra expense you thing a HP or 2 is going to make it better? Max out the fun you have with the car not the $$ ---don't reinvent the ring --it is not needed.
Gapless rings are no power advantage based on what I see on the dyno--they were invented for dirt track engines that eat dirt and wear like crazy--yes your engine will pass a leak down check and look wonderful--No it will not make any more power in most cases--Yes they are expensive--very easy to screw up on installation and for the average hot rodder a bad idea--Lindberg flew over the Atlantic in an antique cast ring junker compared to what we have today--old school works and works cheap--I have never ever seen a man win a race because he had gapless rings--it is just silly for the average guy to redesign an engine that Detroit spent a $$$$$$$ on with the best engineers they could get--- I can take an old worn block a customer discards--rehone and use std old FTF rings and make great dependable HP cheap. Tricks are for kids ( and the guys selling tricks ) The truth is that the great leak check test they provide does NOT translate into more HP when those things are fluttering at 7500 RPM based on the many I have seen. Even if it did what could it be ? a couple? a few? for all that extra expense you thing a HP or 2 is going to make it better? Max out the fun you have with the car not the $$ ---don't reinvent the ring --it is not needed.
The Jalopy Journal
