Anyone ever use one of those tapered aluminum ring compressor sleeves to install 4 ring pistons in a flathead ford block? Summit 90A3100 is the one I found, and am wondering if these are better than the traditional clamp type compressor. What say you?
If you can find right diameter, the tapered sleeve is much nicer than the traditional screw-tightening kind. My favorite, impossible to find but easy to make, is the one KR Wilson supplied to dealers. It was just a piece of steel strap maybe 1 1/2" wide. It was bent into a circle, actually MOST of a circle, maybe 340 degrees, with the ends finished off as handles bent outward. Hold handles, give a quick squeeze and push piston down. If 4-ring, squeeze-push-release-repeat. Takes only seconds per piston. Traditonal clamp works fine but takes a lot of fiffling.
By way of followup, I used the Summit adjustable tapered aluminum installing sleeve on my 49 merc rebuild and it worked flawlessly. So much nicer than those old school band clamps. Used plenty of ***embly lube; Slick and quick.
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