8v rings

[paultownsend]

iv picked up a low milage pb lump and the heads been sent away for some nice new exhaust valves and a good polish.
now im a novice at engines really, i kind of see them as a 3d jigsaw, but i understand the fundimentals. there seems to be, minimal, wear on the bores, not alot of glazing. oil and water pumps are getting changed, and iv looked at the rod shells and they look good. my old man used to be an engineer, and he reckons to put new rings in there while the blocks on the bench waiting for a paint. is it ok to just do the rings? this is budget dependant, and tbh im just wanting to learn and looking to do the 2.0 conversion in the future.

im thinking the bores have to be honed?

help is always appreciated

Paul

[barry sprout]

Hi mate

The trouble with this sort of situation is that once the motor is apart it gets very much like "oh well while it's out I might as well...." and then you find you've spent a small fortune, when in fact you're thinking of changing the bottom end anyway in future.

Best gains are from the head - get that well sorted and then it'll be good for your new 2.0l bottom end.

You can bust the glaze on bores and put in new rings, but is it worth it? Only if you're losing compression, which would have been best checked with the head on - wet and dry comparison compression tests usually sort the valve leak from bore leak if compression is down. But as you say, you could do it anyway.

If you're keeping the bottom a while and the shells and bearings are OK, piston rings could be a good idea and a new oil pump too, but these can also be done later as and when needed by dropping the sump off.

[paultownsend]

how is the de-glaze done?

[herbster]

rings aren't cheap, i got mine through a motor factor cost me about 60quid, did the big ends and mains too , they cost me about 90quid, but mine was smokin alot with 148k on the clock so thought while doing the head i'll do the lot, leave yours as is, run it like it is, you could pick another engine up from anywhere for decent money and take your time doing the lot so you got it just the way you want it ready for the change over!!

[rubjonny]

new rings need freshly honed bores, otherwise they wont bed in properly.  ideally you would have checked the compression before you took the engine apart to see if they were really needed or not

Personally I wouldnt bother, VWs dont tend to need rings, its the stem seals that I'd be concentrating on!

[paultownsend]

your right.cant be arsed!

checked the rod bearing shells and they look all good! one question though. the book of lies is saying torque up to 30 nm then quarter turn? this correct?

bently online says just 30nm