took the engine apart about 2 hrs ago and this what I found. The #1 cylinder's gap is huge....... I did not have a feeler gauge that big so my guess is .030+. I then put an oversized .25mm compression ring in there and the gap was .017. The second cylinder had great compression at .022 gap on the top ring but the oil rings were broke the other cylinders were fine but I will pull them anyways to see what they are at now. So my question for you all is would the gap being that big cause oil to pass in the first cylinder and would the broken oil ring in the second cause the same in the second. Thanks

 

Were the rings staggered when you pulled them off?

 

the 1st cyl rings have obviously moved but the 2nd cylinder was fine. I had a friend pull the pistons out while I pushed them through and I asked him to not move the rings so that I could see the gaps on the piston. I did not pay attention to which side of the ring was up to make sure that the beveled end was right. What should I look for when inspecting the piston rings and oil rings. I did notice that the kirts of the 1st piston has some wear on it. That is the piston with the big gap. Any thoughts

 

I would measure the bore on that trouble cylinder. It could be out of round or out of spec. Measure the piston as well to make sure it is identical to the other pistons. Something isn't right, measurement-wise.

 

yeah the bore is like in between standard and oversized. I guess I have slightly oversized the bore and now I am in between piston sizes.The oversized piston ring has a gap of .o17 when installed in the piston. What does that tell you. Should i just pull the block and get new pistons and bore it out. I do not like the thought of putting one oversized piston in with 3 standard ones. What does everyone think

 

Sadly, if the bore is out of spec for a standard size, you are going to have to pull the block, have it bored oversize and get some oversized pistons. If you do one, you need to do the rest.

BTW, how are you measuring ring gap with the ring on the piston? You should be pushing the ring into the bore with the top of the piston and measuring ring gap there.

 

yeah that is how I did it. I think that I will just go ls/vtec turbo. I have an ls block that has High mileage but is in great shape. I will just put the pistons I have in that block and do it that way. How much boost will the ls rods take.

 

You would be better off swapping crankshafts between the two motors and using those forged rods instead of the LS ones. Either that, or order ones for the LS crank.

 

that was my next question. I took the ls block apart and the crank was pretty wore out. If I match up the main bearings with the ls block for the b16 crank you are saying that it will work. If true I am not as bad off as I seem. Thanks again

 

Oh, for some reason I thought you had a GSR motor. The B16 crank won't work in the LS block. The ls vtec option isn't very cost effective since you will need a new crank and rods.