Piston installation. Please help

Okay, I got my pistons today. 810cc wiseco pistons. This may be a dumb question, but I have never put in pistons on a 4-cylnider motor(single cylinders only). I was wondering what the best way of doing this is? The only thing I have come up with is putting the pistons in the cylinder so they are poking out the bottom enough to slide the wrist pin in. Then having the rods all at the same height, and having somebody hold the cylinders, while i slide the pins in. Is this how it is done? (and yes I did bore the cylinders)

Also, is there any tips anybody can give to make this job easier? I have been told to line the cylinders, and outside of pistons with ATF so they slide in easier, and also ATF will burn away very rapidly after engine is started.

i stuck my pistons on my rods first, lined them all up, then squeezed th top layer of rings untill i had all the cylinders started, then squeezed the second layers of rings across, then squeezed the top ring layer of the oil seal, poked the oil seals in then did the bottom oil seal rings and it slid right on, but your method sounds even easier!!

i did this by myself, lots of captain morgan was also engulfed during the process.

I put the pistons on the rods, line them up, held the cylinders on and had a buddy help push the rings in on two pistons while I did the other two. We used small screwdrivers to push the rings in.

On my J I used two small wooden U shaped pieces to support two pistons and ring compressors (clip type) on all 4 pistons. With a bit of wiggling they went in. If the cylinders have been rebored ensure there is a decent champfer on the cylinder liners to easy ring entry

all the above sounds right, there are a lot of ways, ring compressors make it a lot easier, I have always put the pistons in dry on bikes, and have never had any seating in issues.
When I fire it up the first time I have a fan in front of the motor so I can tune and adj everything and keep the rpms up to seat it in, takes about 20-30 min

Popcycle sticks were invented for pushing the rings in.

Very importyant. Make sure the oil ring expander is not overlapped on the ends. It can jump while being installed. Observe each one as it goes into the bore ( it can't jump once inside).

If you install it with the expander ends overlapped, you will have one hole that oils and smokes like mad, and the cylinder will have to come back off.

Jay

Post edited by: APE Jay, at: 2007/09/27 14:58

Been there...done that! It's no fun getting the motor completely back together and admiring the job you done, and then start it up and see all that smoke pouring out the exhaust. But then, after tearing it all back down again and doing it again is good practice.LOL

I take pieces of 1 inch plastic pipe and slip it under the piston skirts to hold all four pistons in place against the block. This keeps the crank from turning. Then I slip the cylinders on and work the rings in, WORKING VERY CAREFULLY. Don't rush the job and every time the cylinders move down some, look at each ring to make sure one did not try to escape the slot......chris3

Somebody mentioned large hose clamps can be used as cheap ring compressors........

I am about to do my 750 twin. I never though of trying to shove the pots into the cylinder and then lower the whole thing onto the rods......

The factory manual says assemble the pistons, put supports under them, apply ring clamps and lower the cylinder onto the pots.

BSKZ650 wrote:

all the above sounds right, there are a lot of ways, ring compressors make it a lot easier,

I bought the ones from JC Whitney. About $32 each, seem to be very good quality.

Nobody has mentioned it but prep is very important.

If the block has a generous chamfer at the bottom of the sleeves, it makes the job a ton easier.

I ALWAYS soap and hot water scrub the bores with a bottle brush, then rinse them completely. They'll probably start to rust as soon as they dry. DON"T WORRY.

Use paper towels with clean engine oil [non synthetic] and wipe the bores out. Coat them good with oil to start with, then use as many towels as it takes to wipe the bores out until the towel stops turning black. When you reach that point, the bores are clean of debris and ready for a very light coat of oil to assemble. Use pressure when you wipe them...you'll see the towels turn black.

After the block is installed, turn the motor over and again, wipe out any excess oil in the bores.

And pay close attention to what Jay said about the oil expander ring....

I agree with the wooden popcicle stick method...handy little devils.

bountyhunter wrote:

Somebody mentioned large hose clamps can be used as cheap ring compressors........

That's what I used,and it worked like a charm.(might have been Me that posted that)
Start off with 2 and 3 first.Plastic,springloaded clamps work well to help hold the block level while You're lowering in onto the pistons.Put the clamps on the studs to assist You...it works.
WiredGeorge(or someone here) posted some pics of the setup a while back.
And like mentioned...go slow,and don't expect it to happen with one visit...take a break from it and do it right,because You really DON'T want to have to pull it apart again(like mentioned).

Good luck with that.

Post edited by: Sandy, at: 2007/09/28 00:02