Doing a top end/upgrade. couple questions, heads, rings and deckheight extremes. Options

[Aaron Cox]

motor ate a head gasket. pulled it apart before it could flame cut a cylinder or head.

so its apart. 71 x 94, with LARGE cam. has mahle euro '8:1 pistons" in it.
deck was setup at .031 but was running a head gasket.

heads have never been decked/surfaced. pulled em and cleaned em, 2 chambers have a sparkplug crack starting - so they need to be welded.

while its apart, i plan to re-ring it, hone the barrels, get the heads done, and???

questions - what rings do you recommend for mahle pistons?
certain rings justify certain hone finishes right?

heads need welding.
valves are sealing great to the seats. guides are good. (motor has 35 k on it since full rebuild.) when the head gets welded, will this require new seats/guides and a resurface?
what is the proper welding setup- my machinist may want to weld em cold, but i was told to pre heat em first - your thoughts?

when reassembling - how tight can i go on deckheight? the euro pistons have a .034" dish to em. should i trim the pistons .034 to make them flat, and trim the cylinders accordingly also?

trying to get as much CR with these 94mm pistons as i can, and running 91 gas.

last question- cam. how does the cam affect deck height? how tight can i go?

going to CC my heads tomorrow - before machining.... what is the range for a stock 2L head? 55-65cc's?

*on reassembly - head gasket will be omitted, and cylinders will be lapped into the head. valves will also be lapped into their seats again.

[Twystd1]

I agree with McMark. Same for Total Seal.

Much like John.. I do like the Grant oil ring setup.

John knows the guys at Keith Black very well. HGe used to be their In-house R&D guy and master machinist.
Have him check with them to see what they use on the Hyper Pistons for rings. That might get ya closer to what you need.

On JEs I use the moly coated and 2000 grit half of it off. Then use Dino oil for seating. Just make sure the engine isn't runing super rich. Else you will have the same problem with cylinder/ring wear, like you just had.
Thats why the barrels had zip for cross hatch left. IMHO. Fuel washed off the oil and wore the suckers out. In 35K.

I would pull the pistons or take the block to Johns so he can measure the ring slots. JUST to make sure that ring flutter hasn't opened up the grooves. Throw the short block in the truck and let him do a quick piston measure if you don't want to pull the pistons out.

I am guessing he will feel sorry for you anyway. Cause your are a seriously ugly MOFO. If worse comes to worse on your heads. I have a 2.0 set down there you can use with a rev kit.

Call me when you know whassss up...

C
Bring him Lunch... he loves Greek food, Fruit and ZERO junk food.