Hi everyone.
I am currently fitting new piston rings to my omega and I just have a couple of quick questions.
Would it make a differance if I cleaned all the carbon off the top of the pistons?
Do i need new bearing caps bolts on refitting?
And should i change the big end bearings, the current ones look ok, just would it be worth buying new ones while there out?
Thanks
The answers to your question lie in how much you want to spend!
Its worth cleaning the pistons well, paint stripper is your friend here (great at removing carbon) and use the end off an old piston ring to get the carbon out the piston ring grooves (beware, the edges of piston rings are quite sharp!). You can also use a stanley knife blade to remove the carbon off the crown.
With the big end bearings, I would be inspecting carefuly and measuring the clearance with some plastigauge.....but then I would be doing the same with new bearings also.
As for the big end bolts, these can be re-used if desperate but, should idealy be replaced.
Remove any carbon lip from the top of the bores and lightly hone the bores with some fine wet and dry to break the glaze and allow the new rings to bed in.