Easy Way to Put Piston in a Compressor August 07, 2022 Post a Comment Captdan Been here awhile Joined: Jan 5, 2012 Oddometer: 766 I've seen on numerous postings over the years folks installing heads on an airhead without the use of a ring compressing tool. I read that the idea is that the head is made for this, and that ring tool may damage the piston or cylinder head. Has anyone installed a cylinder head in this fashion without the use of a ring tooL? Not sure if the Siebenrock cylinder heads are the same, but may be worth looking into before installation.. The couple of times I have had my cylinders off I did not use a ring compressor. I recall just using my fingers to compress the rings as I inserted the piston through the bottom of the cylinder. I left the hole for the wrist pin exposed. The studs supported the cylinder as I put the wrist pin back in. JRP Old guy Supporter Use the compressor if the piston is inserted from the top of the cylinder and just your fingers if from the bottom. The top is square but the bottom has a slight lead in angle. A ring compression tool is used to insert pistons into cylinders by compressing the rings. This tool is not used to attach heads to the cylinders once the piston and rings are in place. Airhead cylinders usually have a taper at the bottom of the cylinder that will help in compressing the rings. It can usually be done with the finger tips. Pistons are installed in the cylinder with their rings before the piston pins are installed a lot of times. Many see this as the easy way to do it. Then the wrist pins or gudgeon pins are attached to connect the pistons to the connecting rods. Care must be take to see that the circlips are properly seated. Spin the circlips once installed to prove they are in their grooves. A failed circlip can wreck havoc and ruin pistons, cylinders and heads. It is also possible to have the pistons and rings with the wrist pins and circlips together first and then insert the pistons and rings in the cylinder. Again the fingers may be used to compress the rings so the piston will slide into the cylinder. Once the cylinders, pistons, rings, gudgeon pins and circlips are all on the engine with new push rod tube rubbers then the head gaskets and cylinder heads can be installed to hold it all together. Use a good torque wrench in three steps to reach a final torque of 25 ft/lbs. While doing the torque on the head nuts squeeze the blocks holding the rocker arms together so there is little or no free play or up and down movement of the rockers. (there are variations on this theme depending on year but I include this note because it is applicable to my year. You do not mention the year/model of your machine) The year and model of your Airhead should be in the first post. What disston said. If you are in a position to damage a head with a ring compressor, you are doing something very wrong. The compressor aids in inserting the pistons into the cylinders. The heads have nothing to do with it. I take the pistons off the conrod and use one of these. No issues to date mark1305 Old Enough To Know Better Supporter I have done the finger tip method on some motors, but found it easy to make a ring compressor with a sheet cut from a plastic milk jug or shampoo bottle and a big ole hose clamp. Cheap, effective, and the plastic won't mar the piston or rings as they slide through that chamfer into the cylinder. Think I did that when I changed out the left jug on the R80 ST due to Nikasil flaking. (Thanks again to Rob Farmer for hooking me up with some spare cylinders that matched my piston codes.) I was glad to help Mark. It was a pity they needed cleaning up. We used a large hose clamp once for an emergency ring-ectomy while at a rally. Worked great. A properly used ring compressor isn't going to hurt a dayum thing. I use a smooth stainless compressor from bottom of cylinders on bench, pins inserted at final assembly. The fingers thing or milk carton may leave something behind. Rings have sharp edges. I also keep it all dry as possible except for little lite oil to slidem home. It's alright for those smarty pants with fingernails to use their fingers! I always install the pistons from the bottom with the cylinder in my lap..use a popsicle stick because the sides of the rings will slice your finger in an instant. Usually takes about a minute or less per ring. Push the piston in so the wrist pin can be backed out. Then a VERY thin layer of Hondabond, the 3 "O" rings, and slide the unit onto the studs..push the wrist pin through the rod, slide the piston down..move the clutch cable out of the way on the right and remember to reattach the left side crash bar at the bottom. As always make sure everything is oriented the right way. I've only done this once when I repaired someone's pushrod seals, but I just used a hose clamp which worked great, the piston slid in just fine and the clamp slid off without damaging anything. Irrc, someone had replaced the intake clamps with overly long ones which were perfect for the job... now that I think of it, perhaps they did so for this exact purpose. Maybe I'll do that on my bike. vazquezhatand.blogspot.com Source: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/installing-new-pistons-without-ring-compressor-tool.1133513/ Share Post a Comment for "Easy Way to Put Piston in a Compressor"
I've seen on numerous postings over the years folks installing heads on an airhead without the use of a ring compressing tool. I read that the idea is that the head is made for this, and that ring tool may damage the piston or cylinder head. Has anyone installed a cylinder head in this fashion without the use of a ring tooL? Not sure if the Siebenrock cylinder heads are the same, but may be worth looking into before installation..
The couple of times I have had my cylinders off I did not use a ring compressor. I recall just using my fingers to compress the rings as I inserted the piston through the bottom of the cylinder. I left the hole for the wrist pin exposed. The studs supported the cylinder as I put the wrist pin back in.
Use the compressor if the piston is inserted from the top of the cylinder and just your fingers if from the bottom. The top is square but the bottom has a slight lead in angle.
A ring compression tool is used to insert pistons into cylinders by compressing the rings. This tool is not used to attach heads to the cylinders once the piston and rings are in place. Airhead cylinders usually have a taper at the bottom of the cylinder that will help in compressing the rings. It can usually be done with the finger tips. Pistons are installed in the cylinder with their rings before the piston pins are installed a lot of times. Many see this as the easy way to do it. Then the wrist pins or gudgeon pins are attached to connect the pistons to the connecting rods. Care must be take to see that the circlips are properly seated. Spin the circlips once installed to prove they are in their grooves. A failed circlip can wreck havoc and ruin pistons, cylinders and heads. It is also possible to have the pistons and rings with the wrist pins and circlips together first and then insert the pistons and rings in the cylinder. Again the fingers may be used to compress the rings so the piston will slide into the cylinder. Once the cylinders, pistons, rings, gudgeon pins and circlips are all on the engine with new push rod tube rubbers then the head gaskets and cylinder heads can be installed to hold it all together. Use a good torque wrench in three steps to reach a final torque of 25 ft/lbs. While doing the torque on the head nuts squeeze the blocks holding the rocker arms together so there is little or no free play or up and down movement of the rockers. (there are variations on this theme depending on year but I include this note because it is applicable to my year. You do not mention the year/model of your machine) The year and model of your Airhead should be in the first post.
What disston said. If you are in a position to damage a head with a ring compressor, you are doing something very wrong. The compressor aids in inserting the pistons into the cylinders. The heads have nothing to do with it.
I have done the finger tip method on some motors, but found it easy to make a ring compressor with a sheet cut from a plastic milk jug or shampoo bottle and a big ole hose clamp. Cheap, effective, and the plastic won't mar the piston or rings as they slide through that chamfer into the cylinder. Think I did that when I changed out the left jug on the R80 ST due to Nikasil flaking. (Thanks again to Rob Farmer for hooking me up with some spare cylinders that matched my piston codes.)
I use a smooth stainless compressor from bottom of cylinders on bench, pins inserted at final assembly. The fingers thing or milk carton may leave something behind. Rings have sharp edges. I also keep it all dry as possible except for little lite oil to slidem home.
I always install the pistons from the bottom with the cylinder in my lap..use a popsicle stick because the sides of the rings will slice your finger in an instant. Usually takes about a minute or less per ring. Push the piston in so the wrist pin can be backed out. Then a VERY thin layer of Hondabond, the 3 "O" rings, and slide the unit onto the studs..push the wrist pin through the rod, slide the piston down..move the clutch cable out of the way on the right and remember to reattach the left side crash bar at the bottom. As always make sure everything is oriented the right way.
I've only done this once when I repaired someone's pushrod seals, but I just used a hose clamp which worked great, the piston slid in just fine and the clamp slid off without damaging anything. Irrc, someone had replaced the intake clamps with overly long ones which were perfect for the job... now that I think of it, perhaps they did so for this exact purpose. Maybe I'll do that on my bike.
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