The great quest for piston rings. Any ideas?

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:48 pm

Help, my grand hand me down plan has hit a snag.

I'm building/rebuilding my 1100 motors and I need a full set of 1mm over rings. My engine has 61k on it and was redone back in the day by a Honda dealer with 1mm over pistons. I also have some stock pistons, a worn stock set of jugs and a set of 1000 jugs. I'm going to have the 1000 jugs bored to 70mm and use the stock pistons with new rings (got the rings). The worn stock jugs get bored to 71mm and I reuse the oversize pistons with new rings that I can't find and the worn 71mm jugs get bored to 72mm and go Weisco.

Great plan to keep me running for years, but I can't find the 71mm rings. Anyone got any ideas? Honda doesn't have them, neither does DSS.

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:59 pm

did you check service honda?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:21 am

Service Honda doesn't stock anything, they just get a delivery from Honda everyday for what they order. The part that really torques me is that Honda's main parts warehouse is about 20 minutes down the road from me, but I have to order parts through Indiana! Pity they won't let me just wander around for a couple hours with a basket.

In short these are NLA unless someone has a stash out there. They have .75 and stock, but not 1mm. Don't even ask me what the bill was for bearings, tensioners and all sorts of other bits and pieces from Service Honda. I'm shipping the 1st set of jugs to APE tomorrow. The 1100 style A tensioners are NLA as has been mentioned. I had to settle for 900 style. I wonder how long that supply will last. Both types of Primary tensioners are NLA as well. I was surprised I could still get yellow main bearings under the old babbit type part number. I stocked up.

Anyone out there have a printed catalog from Wiseco, the guy at APE mentioned they make odd size rings but they don't list them on their website. He said they used to be in the print catalog. I tried my best to talk APE into making a billet clutch basket for us like they do the Kawi's, even offered half a dozen wasted ones for cores, but no go. Hey Jay you listening?

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:47 am

Call up Wiseco and ask for Sue.....she will be able to tell you if they exist...
I have used Sue for years and she is very helpful.....

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:46 am

Try http://www.totalseal.com/

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:23 am

The main problem you will have is oil ring thickness.

Piston Mfg's used to use the .098" thick ring but is now .108",ie they changed the dimensions of the ring pack.

This is across the board,no .098" thick oil rings.

I had a nice set of MTC 70mm bore big compression pistons. I had to break a set of 1100 rings just to get the oil ring,the compression rings were also different but I had them.

If you have an 1100 tensionner even with a lot of miles,it needs to be complete junk before the choice is a 900 one. I had to take an engine down to change a 900 tensionner for an 1100 one due to failure to adjust the chain. You could look down inside and see the blade "flexing odd" so I thought it was broken. Replaced the 900 with another one to the same effect. Finally used one of my last 1100 parts I was saving.

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:20 pm

[quote="mxsaunders"] The part that really torques me is that Honda's main parts warehouse is about 20 minutes down the road from me, but I have to order parts through Indiana! Pity they won't let me just wander around for a couple hours with a basket.

They really should open it up like a grocery store.

Hawk Joined: Aug 20, 2009 Posts: 351 Location: Indiana

just curious to where here in indiana you order your parts from. perhaps someone from another state is more in the know than i am, it happens. Embarassed

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:35 pm

Service Honda is based in Hammond Indiana.

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:59 am

mxsaunders wrote:

Pity they won't let me just wander around for a couple hours with a basket.

We wish - I have the same problem!!!