VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Piston Rings

I was warned by a couple of trustworthy guys on here a few years back to avoid using the chrome rings on Cast pistons in my 1938 216.

I have a few sets of Old Stock aftermarket rings and a genuine Old GM set of rings. The aftermarket rings look better engineered with different materials and multi piece designs. The GM rings are all single ring design I think (looking at my pictures). All are rust free condition. The GM rings are loose packed together so wonder about wear to contact surfaces over the years but the aftermarket rings are individually packaged.

Wondering if the fancier designs are all marketing hype or whether there is indeed an improvement over the original GM design?

Are any of the available brand new rings from Perfect Circle, etc any better than using old rings made 50+ years ago?

The one piece GM rings were just used in production. They were fine for straight round cylinder walls and easy on the cylinder walls. Chevrolet replacement rings were of the multi piece design and good for overhauls or new cars that burt oil. When chrome rings came out the Chevrolet chrome rings were calll "Chrome Flex" and that is all we used for overhaul jobs. Chevrolet rings were made by the Muskegon Piston ring company. We never had any problems with them.
The bad talk about chrome rings when they came out was like any other different things and everything the engine did wrong was blamed on those daned chrome rings.

When I put my trcuk 216 together last winter, I had the block bored .040 to fit some aluminum pistons that I bought. The only rings that I could buy new were chrome as there were no cast iron available. The two names involved were Hastings and Grant. I think one was the manufacturer and the other the distributor. If you buy Egge pistons, they have a different design with thinner rings that only Egge makes.

Thanks for reply Gene.I like the way your experience emerges in your reply" easy on cylinder walls"

A friend of mine got his rings from Egge. They were so strong that they would make a squeaking noise that never went away. He ended up replacing the rings with another brand.

In the later years I bought rings from J.C. Whitney. They were the same as theGM Chromeflex and made by Muskegon Ring. I think they do not carry them any more.

Based on Gene's comments I think I'm better off with one of the sets of aftermarket rings. I want rings that will seat well so multi-piece sounds like a slight improvement in design. I have NOS Cast pistons.

They are all 30 over, so I'm surprised the GM ones are one piece as they would have been replacements. My biggest concern with the GM ones are the loose packaging allowing possibly some wear over the years and of course people touching with body oils and then sitting for years or decades.

I've also wondered about brand new rings vs old stock. They made things well years ago so my gut tells me a 60 year old ring that has sat and maintained shape could have a stronger tendency to maintain its shape more than a one month old ring stamped today with unknown origins.