Ok, installing pistons for the first time so bear with me...

The gap on all my TotalSeal rings (pushed into the cylinder by themselves, used piston to push them down) is around .085" but the spec sheet that came with the JE's says:
TOP - .048 groove - .250 land
2ND - .048 groove - .150 land
LOW - .119 groove - .090 land

Question1) Whats groove, & what's Land? Which is "gap"?

Question2) I know to file down the ring if my gap is too small, but what if it's too big? Did they bore out my cylinders too big?

Had the block machined out, clearanced at .0035 per HRC/JE spec.

big thanks in advance!

It's been a little while, but I do know this. Use the piston upside down as your reference point. Try to get the ring (I start with comp first but it doesn't really matter) as even as possible all the way around. If it is crooked, you WILL get a false reading and file down a ring that may have been in spec. Next pick a piston land (grooves on the piston, just 3 there) and use it to push the ring down into the cylinder. You are looking for the land to even all the way around the top of the cylinder bore. Take the piston out, and your ring should be pretty even all around. Measure the gap with your feeler gauge and compare it to the specs that came with the rings. Also some spec ranges are different from the recommended manufacter's specs. Use common sense and pick a spec that is fairly in the middle to be safe.
You said that you had your block bored .035 over. I'm not sure what type of pistons you have, it .035 is not a common number. usually they are made in .010 increments. If you feel that boring may be off, get a cheap micrometer and check it before you waste a perfectly good set of rings. I have hardly ever had to file rings down to get into spec, usually they are already there and I just adjust them to make them to the way I like since I'm kind of anal in that sense.

Shit is all apart. Typical...

The block *should* be bored .020 oversize, with .0035 (note extra 0) clearance between piston and cylinder.

The piston does sit a LOT looser in the bore than the stock one did. The stock pistons kinda squeezed out like a hand pump, but these pistons have some noticeable gap/play when they're sitting in there. I don't have a micrometer that'll fit in there, so I'm gonna have to use the compressed ring gap to tell me if it's off.

Anyone have the JE8.8/Totalseal ring gap spec? I either didn't get it, or lost it.

I don't know the specs for you but the forged pistons will expand more than stock pistons so they need more room to do so, so they will not fit as tightly as the stockers, this is why they make a nice knocking sound when cold.

Una salus victus.
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Michael J. Kulaga
e-mail: Michael_97RS@2gntDSM.zzn.com aol IM: MJKulga
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All motor in the making.

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call howell and they'll tell u what to gap it at...don;t use these numbers cause i'm not positive, but from what i recall they were

1. 0.023
2. 0.018

but call and ask...and those are thousandths...in case my decimal is off...sorry rough night.

mark

stage 2 turbo and all that crap

>call howell and they'll tell u what to gap it at...don;t use
>these numbers cause i'm not positive, but from what i
>recall they were
>
>1. 0.023
>2. 0.018
>
>but call and ask...and those are thousandths...in case my
>decimal is off...sorry rough night.
>
>mark

Those are right Mark. You paid attention in class, you get a gold star.

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Crap so they bored out my cylinders too big?

Mine were .085 right out of the box.

So I need to start over and have another block bored out? That's a big difference. Or would I just have to deal with more blowby?

Thanks to everyone that helped out. Turned out Howell shipped me the wrong rings on accident. They have already had UPS pick up the old rings and I bought a new set, which should be refunded when they get the old ones.

FYI
The Totalseals' model number ends in xxxxx020 if they're .020 overbore.