piston ring replacement

[Bill Safrit]

I'm getting ready to replace the piston ring in my JC 23 with a Bowman ring which I got lucky to find because it is possibly the last Bowman on earth for this low compression engine being Mr. Bowman recently retired. I already know that I have to make sure the ring gap has to be clean. Should I clean the piston, cylinder, and head before reassembly?

 

[49dimes]

Yes. Clean the ring groove in the piston too. Cylinder walls may have some staining / discoloration and I would not worry to much about that because you can easily scratch the surface's. But the top of cylinder and exhaust port typically need cleaning too.

 

[Bill Safrit]

Thanx 49. I knew I need to clear out the ring groove. I mentioned that. I read where another JC 23 owner installed a Bowman in his and it woke the engine up. When I received this engine new, I was disappointed by the fact that it had almost had no compression. After 3 gallons it has gained a good bit more compression but not enough for what it should be. Thanx again.

 

[Robbins]

Grab some white lithium grease and coat cylinder wall sparingly along with piston and ring. Use compressed air and solvent to clean Any debris from cleaning the engine prior to this. Reassemble.

You can also use your favorite 2stroke oil to lube for reassembly. I just prefer white lith. I use ultra lube. It is soy based

 

[BillVargas]

Here ya go,,, straight from the man himself on what to do with your new FB Ring!

 

[Bill Safrit]

Thanx a million BillVargas. Your response is very helpful.

 

[Mr.Anderson]

I have an old, but new to me, DLE111 that may or may not have Bowman rings in it and I have a set of new bowman rings for it. This might be a dumb question but is there a reliable way to check if an engine already has Bowman rings in it?
I have this fear that I might do an unnecessary ring swap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bunky.F.Knuckle]

Pull a cylinder, remove the ring and place the ring down in the cylinder. Take a feeler gage and measure the gap.

 

[thurmma]

Typical bowman rings, from my experiences, will have a 3 to 4 thousandths end gap. The standard dle end gap, at least on my 170 is almost 15 thousandths! Wish I could find someone with some bowman rings for the 170 that wasn't going to use them

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

Is Bowman no longer doing the rings?