i am going to be building a few engines over the next few months and was wondering if anyone on the board has adapted a piston ring end gap filer ( w manually rotated grinding disc) in order to clearance side seals? it would appear that, if properly indexed onto the surface of the machine, it might do an excellent job.



howard coleman

it might be used with modification. the corner seal is round, the sdie seal ideally needs to be rounded to match.

The gap grinder is designed to make a dead flat/square surface.



You want a cylidrical surface that is a bit off the central axis of the side seal.



Sit a junk rotor gear up on a piece of that rubber maid anti skid matting, on a drill press table.



Select a dremmel sanding drum, or cylindrical stone, that just fits into the corner seal hole. Put the drum or stone in the drill press chuck. Lower it into the corner seal hole until it bottoms, and then back it up a few thousandths so it won't mark up the hole. Lock the coller so that the quil cannot move. The drum should be small enough that it does not touch the sides of the hole. Adjust the rotor so that the drum is close to touching right at the side seal groove opening. Install a side seal spring with the ends trimmed off, upside down in the groove.



Turn on the drill press at a medium speed. Install side seal to be trimmed into the groove. Advance the side seal into the drum and observe the end in the open corner seal hole where the excess seal is extended. When the exposed end gets close to the edge of the open hole, begin fitting the seal into it's intended slot. It pays to rough grind the seals on a grinding wheel rather than expend a number of sanding drums on each seal.



The resulting trimmed seal end is then a perfect fit on the corner seal. If you flip the seal end for end, just before the final finish grind, both ends of the seal will be perfectly fit to the corner seals. Break all sharp edges with a diamond file and clean the seal.



It isn't much, but every little bit helps.



Lynn E. Hanover