Ring temper

[ted johnson]

Has anyone experimented with taking the temper out of the bottom ring in order to reduce wall friction? I don't like leaving an open groove, but collapsing the ring might work. On 1/16" rings, Hank Rotroff and I used to use a Dremel .025 emery wheel and make a groove fown the center of the face of his PP82 rings. It reduced contact area a bunch, but the spring temper was still strong. TJ

[Terry Sullivan]

The Clinton E65 piston also has 3 rings.
I don't like leaving an empty groove either, so I heated one ring until it was red hot and it lost it's temper.
I had an old cylinder that held the ring while I used a propane torch to heat it.
Thanks for reminding me to do this on my next engine!

[ted johnson]

Hey, Terry! Merry Christmas. I thought that'd work. I will do it on my next 610 bottom ring. Ted

[Tom Day]

Hey guys,
 What happens when you leave the bottom ring groove open?

[ted johnson]

Tom, the intake ports are directly connected to the exhaust. Theoretically, air could get in and cause a lean condition. Part of the crankcase charge could escape out the exhaust. There's really insufficient time for any harm power wise or mixture wise, and the amount of overlap degree wise is very small but why take a chance? The collapsed ring is the best answer. I found an old Homie XP1000 cylinder out there, so it'll hold the ring while I heat it up. It's the same bore as the 610. TJ