Piston rings have to seal tightly between the piston and the cylinder. “Ring seal technology” means the ring design is made to seal better so less gas leaks and the engine stays healthier.
A ring pack is the collection of piston rings in an engine. Different ring packs are chosen to help the engine seal properly and manage oil, depending on whether it’s for street or racing.
A street engine is built for everyday driving. The parts (like piston rings) are chosen to work reliably in real-world conditions, not just for track runs.
A racing engine is built for competition use. It’s usually tuned for hard driving—so components like piston rings are selected to keep sealing and oil control when things get extreme.
A ring set is the full set of piston rings that go on the engine. Choosing the right one helps the engine seal properly and last longer.
Term
ductile Mali file fits
This sounds like a specific type of piston ring material. The idea is that the ring face is made to handle high heat and stress while still sealing well.
“Injected alcohol” means the engine is using alcohol fuel that’s added by injection. Alcohol fuel is common in racing because it can handle more boost and heat than regular gasoline, but it also changes what internal parts need to survive.
Car
big block Chevy
“Big block Chevy” is a famous Chevy engine family that’s known for being big and powerful. People build race and performance engines from it a lot because there are lots of parts available for upgrades.
Boost is extra pressure from a turbo or supercharger that forces more air into the engine. More boost generally makes more power, but it also makes the engine run hotter and harder on parts like piston rings.
Pistons are the parts that move up and down in the engine cylinders. They take the force from combustion and send it to the crankshaft, and for boosted alcohol engines they need to work well with the rings to survive the stress.
“Ring group sizes” means the specific sizes and setup of the piston rings. The rings have to fit the piston and cylinder correctly, and the right size helps them seal well and last under high boost.
“Twin turbo” means the engine uses two turbochargers instead of one. It helps the engine make more boost and power, but it also makes the engine work harder on parts like piston rings.
Honing the engine block means preparing the inside cylinder walls so the piston rings can seat properly. If it’s done wrong, the rings may not seal well and the engine can wear faster.
“Twin sequential turbos” means two turbos are used in stages so the engine gets boost sooner and then more boost later. It’s still a high-stress setup, so the piston rings have to be up to the job.
An “inline six cylinder” engine has six cylinders lined up in a row. In a boosted alcohol setup, the rings still have to seal reliably in every cylinder, so the engine layout affects what parts work best.
Ring sizes means the exact dimensions of the piston rings. If the rings aren’t the right size for the piston and cylinder, they won’t seal properly and the engine won’t run as intended.
Ethanol is a type of fuel alcohol that’s sometimes mixed with gasoline. Because it burns differently than regular gasoline, engines may need different tuning or parts choices depending on how much ethanol is used.
Unleaded gasoline is the regular fuel most cars use today. The hosts mention it because fuel type matters when you’re figuring out what engine setup and parts will work correctly.
Term
core foundational elements
They’re talking about the basic facts you need before you can give the right advice. In this case, that includes things like what fuel you’re using and whether the engine is turbo/supercharged or not.
Naturally aspirated means the engine doesn’t use a turbo or supercharger. It pulls air in by normal engine breathing, and that changes the conditions inside the engine compared with boosted setups.
Nitrous is a system that injects a special gas into the engine to make more power. It’s like a temporary power boost, but you need the right setup so it doesn’t hurt the engine.
Gapless rings are special piston rings designed to seal better. By reducing the gaps where gases can leak, they can help the engine make more power and last longer under hard use.
Dyno testing is when an engine is run on a machine that can simulate real driving loads. It’s a common way to test parts before using them in real cars.
Ring end gap is the small clearance at the ends of the piston ring. If the gap is set too tight, the ring can expand and jam together when the engine gets hot.
The piston crown is the top part of the piston that sits under the combustion chamber. It gets very hot, so controlling heat there matters for durability.
Term
conventional combination
In this context, “conventional combination” refers to the typical pairing of piston rings and end-gap sizing used in standard ring setups. The speaker claims a gapless top ring needs substantially more end gap than what’s used in conventional ring combinations.
“Butting” means the ring ends touch because the ring expands when it gets hot. If there isn’t enough clearance, that can cause damage or poor operation.
A “Nova” is a Chevrolet model, and “small block” usually means a compact V8 engine used in many classic performance builds. They’re talking about how piston rings can change how that engine performs.
“The pan” is the oil reservoir at the bottom of the engine. The goal is to keep fuel from getting into that oil. If fuel mixes with oil, it can make the oil less effective at lubricating.
Crankcase vacuum means the area under the pistons is held at slightly lower pressure than the outside air. Racing engines sometimes use this to keep oil cleaner and manage gases. If the piston rings don’t seal well, you can lose that vacuum.
A leak-down test checks how well a cylinder seals by pushing compressed air in and seeing how much leaks out. If the piston rings seal better, less air escapes and the numbers look better. That’s what “leak down numbers” means here.
An aluminum block means the engine’s main housing is made from aluminum instead of iron. Aluminum moves/expands differently as the engine heats up, which can affect sealing. The host is saying the ring design helps those sealing results.
Diesel engines run differently than gasoline engines: they compress air a lot and inject fuel so it ignites from the heat. The host is saying diesel setups can really benefit from better piston-ring sealing. That’s especially true when the engine is modified for more power.
“Power adders” are modifications that make an engine produce more power. When you push more boost or add more fuel/air, the engine puts more stress on components like piston rings. Better sealing can help handle that.
Term
injector sooner
“Injector sooner” means the engine injects fuel earlier in the cycle than stock. That can increase how hard the cylinder pressures build. The host is connecting that higher stress to why better ring sealing matters.
Fuel dilution is when fuel leaks into the engine oil. When that happens, the oil can become thinner and not protect the engine as well, which can lead to extra wear.
Matt Hartford is a person the host talks about in connection with Total Seal and NHRA Pro Stock racing. The host says he’s very serious and competitive about winning.
This is a high-level drag racing category in the NHRA. The cars are heavily modified and run hard enough that engine components like piston rings and oil control really matter.
These are special piston rings that have small openings in them. They help manage the hot combustion gases so the engine seals better and uses less oil.
Lateral gas ports are tiny side holes in the ring. They help combustion pressure push the ring into better contact with the cylinder wall so less gas escapes.
A vertical gas port is another type of tiny hole in the ring, just placed differently. It’s still meant to help the ring seal better by using combustion pressure.
“Pro mod” is a drag-racing category where cars are heavily modified and can make huge power. It’s mentioned to set the context for why the piston-ring sealing problem is so intense.
Gas pressure is the force from burning fuel inside the engine. In this context, they’re talking about getting that pressure to push the piston ring into place so it seals better and keeps combustion gases from leaking past.
Gas-activated rings are piston rings that use combustion pressure to press themselves tighter against the cylinder wall. That helps them seal better when the engine is making lots of pressure.
This is about the ring’s shape where it touches the cylinder wall. The ring face geometry can change how it seals and how pressure pushes it into contact.
Unit pressure means the pressure concentrated in a small contact area. Higher unit pressure helps the ring press where it needs to so it can seal and control gases better.
Term
HRA stock
“HRA stock” is a racing rule class where the car has to stay closer to stock specs. The speaker is saying some piston-ring modifications aren’t allowed in that class.
“Super stock” is a drag-racing class with its own rule set. The speaker is saying the modification might be permitted there even if it’s not allowed in another “stock” class.
Ray Barton is someone the host mentions as being involved in the project and conversations about how to make the ring design work within racing rules.
Person
David
David is another person mentioned in the conversation, grouped with Ray Barton around figuring out how to apply the ring idea without breaking the rules.
Fixed contact load points are specific areas where the ring consistently presses against the cylinder wall. By controlling ring movement and where pressure is applied, you can reduce uneven wear and improve how consistently the ring seals.
Wear lines are visible bands or patterns of abrasion on the cylinder wall caused by where the ring loads and scrubs. Their shape can indicate uneven pressure distribution, ring rotation behavior, or fuel-related effects.
Alcohol engines are engines tuned to run alcohol-based fuels (commonly ethanol blends). These fuels can change combustion characteristics and can be harder on components, making ring and cylinder wear patterns more pronounced.
Cylinder pressure is the pressure inside the combustion chamber during the engine cycle. Higher or uneven cylinder pressure increases ring loading and can drive wear and sealing behavior.
Reversion is unwanted backflow of gases during the intake stroke. It can happen when pressure waves or port/ring geometry cause combustion gases to move the wrong direction, contaminating the intake charge.
A leak pathway is an unintended route that allows gases or fluids to pass where they shouldn’t. Here, incorrect gas port depth creates a path around the ring that lets oil and combustion gases contaminate the intake stroke.
Combustion gases are the hot, chemically active gases produced when fuel burns in the cylinder. If they pass the rings or enter the intake flow, they can contaminate the charge and accelerate wear.
Ferrous metal just means iron-based metal. The speaker is saying engine oil detergents can clean iron surfaces, which helps prevent buildup that would otherwise hurt ring performance.
Engine oil lubricates moving parts, but it also has additives that help keep the engine clean. In this case, the oil’s cleaning additives help prevent carbon buildup where it matters for ring sealing.
Carbon contamination is when soot and burned residue build up inside the engine. Too much buildup can interfere with how well rings seal and how consistently the engine runs.
This is a piston that has built-in passages for gas. The goal is to control how pressure moves around inside the engine, especially when you’re pushing it hard.
Power sports means vehicles like snowmobiles and dirt bikes used for riding and racing. Because they’re used differently than cars, the engine parts (like rings) may need different specs.
E85 is a high-ethanol fuel blend. Ethanol helps engines handle more aggressive performance setups, like higher boost, when everything is set up correctly.
“LS V8” is a popular GM V8 engine family people often swap into performance builds. The point here is that some applications aren’t using an LS V8, so ring choices can be different.
A two-stroke engine makes power every two piston movements. Because it works differently than a four-stroke, the piston rings and how they seal can be different too.
Term
supercross style
Supercross style means the kind of hard, stop-and-go racing you see in Supercross. Engines in that environment can run very hard, so parts like piston rings need to handle heat and stress.
A part number is a manufacturer’s specific identifier for a component. In this context, the speaker emphasizes that a ring part number corresponds to many internal engine specs, not just a generic replacement label.
Bore size is how wide the engine’s cylinders are. If the bore is a certain size, the piston and piston rings have to match it so they seal properly and last.
Ring grooves are the slots in the piston where the piston rings sit. The shape of those slots affects how well the rings seal and how they behave as the engine heats up.
Alusil (said as aliasil) is a coating used on some engine cylinder walls. It helps the cylinder surface resist wear so the piston rings can seal properly over time.
Car
B18
“B18” refers to a Honda engine family. The speaker is saying that the detailed internal measurements needed to match piston rings aren’t something you can just request from the manufacturer.
Car
KTM 450
KTM 450 is a type of off-road motorcycle. The host is using it as an example of a bike where they don’t yet know the exact internal engine details, so they need someone to measure it so they can make the right piston rings.
Port size is the size of the openings where air/fuel and exhaust gases move through the engine. If you don’t know the exact sizes, it’s harder to match parts like piston rings to the engine’s real internal setup.
Nicosil is a special coating inside the engine cylinder. It helps the cylinder resist wear, and knowing it helps you choose piston rings that will work correctly with that surface.
Car
Kawasaki Vulcan
Kawasaki Vulcan is a line of cruiser motorcycles. In this story, the manufacturer wouldn’t share the engine’s internal details, so they had to figure out the cylinder and coating info to get the right rings.
Bore is the diameter of the engine cylinder. If it’s 103mm, the piston rings have to be made to fit that exact cylinder size.
Term
1.2, 1.22 millimeter
The 1.2 to 1.22 millimeter number is a precise thickness measurement for the ring. Rings that are too thick or too thin won’t seal correctly and can wear out faster.
Top Fuel is a drag-racing category where cars use nitromethane and make enormous power for very short bursts. Because the engines are pushed so hard, parts like piston rings have to survive extreme conditions.
Nitro rings are special piston rings made for engines that run on nitromethane. They’re built to keep sealing and last under the harsh conditions that nitro racing creates.
A spark plug is what creates the spark that starts combustion in the engine. In extreme racing, the plug has to keep working reliably under harsh conditions.
Bore finish is the texture of the inside cylinder wall. That surface has to be right so the piston rings can seal properly and wear at a reasonable rate.
Ring life means how long the piston rings can keep doing their job before they wear out. Longer ring life usually means better sealing and less damage over time.
Pan pressure is the pressure in the engine’s lower oil area (crankcase). If it’s lower, it usually means fewer combustion gases are getting into the crankcase, which can help reduce wear.
Honing a cylinder is a finishing step where the inside of the cylinder is carefully smoothed and patterned. It helps the piston rings fit correctly and helps manage oil so the engine runs with less friction and better sealing.
Cylinder finish is how the inside of the cylinder ends up after machining. It matters because it affects how well the piston rings seal and how the engine controls oil.
“Drag and drive” means a car that’s built to be quick for drag racing but still works for normal street use. Because it has to do both, the engine setup can’t be optimized only for one kind of driving.
Surface finish means how smooth the inside of the engine cylinder is after it’s machined. That roughness helps the oil stay where it needs to be and helps the piston rings “break in” and seal properly.
LIVE
The following is brought to you by total seal piston rings, the
leader in ring seal technology, total seal.com.
Hello and welcome to another edition of hidden horse power
presented by total seal piston rings. I'm Joe Costello once
again joined by the director of technical sales at total seal
piston rings, Mr. Keith Jones. Keith, welcome back to hidden
horse power. How are you doing great? Joe's been a little bit
glad to be back. Having a good time. Joe and I were talking a
little bit before this just kind of catching up with each other
and let's say it's good to see your smiling face. Yes, a nice
catch up episode as the summer is upon us. And on this show, you
know, total seal is about information. It's about getting
to know some of the celebrity engine builders out there. But
really, it's an all an exercise about education on ring seal. And
so we're going to do a little Q&A with Mr. Keith Jones. Some of
the questions that you get on a regular basis to help people
out, maybe they're out there on the YouTube or the socials,
they're talking about building an engine, they're entertaining
the idea, they're trying to figure out which ring pack they
need for their street engine, their racing engine, we're going
to go down some of the spin the hits, if you will, on tough
questions that you get on the daily.
Absolutely, looking forward to it. And we and we get a lot of
them. But after a little time, you see it's like, well, it's
kind of the same questions day in and day out. So hopefully we
can answer some of this for people and make it a easily
accessible place that they can get those answers.
Most importantly, though, if you're out there watching online,
and you see in the question gets asked or partially answered,
or you've got more, you can always reach out, you can drop a
comment right there in the comments section, or you can
reach out to Keith online, we'll call the mothership in Phoenix,
Arizona at Total Seal. That is what this is all about. But let's
start at the beginning, let's dive right into it. In that, like,
how do you select your rings? That's everyone wants a high
performance racing engine, everyone wants an engine for
whatever they happen to be using it for, like, who knows what
they're using it for? How do we determine like, what is our
starting point for the ring set?
Well, that's a that's an excellent question. And the best
way to answer that question is to simply say, reach out to us,
give us a call, email us, whatever it takes, tell us a
little bit about what you're doing. You know, we can go to the
standard response and I, you just want one of these. And, you
know, there's basic ring sets that we have our classic race
series, you know, the ductile Mali file fits. Hey, there are
great sets of rings, they're safe, they're affordable. It's
not an expensive package. I can guide you towards that. That's
the simple answer. But the real answer is if I know what it is
you're doing, what it is you expect out of it. You know,
let's say you're building, you know, an injected alcohol big
block Chevy, and you know, we're going to throw maybe a little
bit of boost at it. We can ask those questions. Okay, what is
it you want? What is it you want to do? What pistons do you
have? What are your ring group sizes? And we can help steer
you or guide you to the best possible ring package. And as
importantly or more importantly, maybe help avoid some
mistakes along the way. Maybe for what you're doing, you don't
want that one millimeter, one millimeter ultra low thin ring
pack. Oh, it's a 50 pound to boost twin turbo alcohol pulling
tractor. Maybe that's not the right ring pack for you. Maybe we
want to go with something a little more robust handle the
heat handle the durability that you need for that application.
So the best simplest answer is to reach out, call us email us
whatever it takes. You know, if you're not already 100% sure on
what you need, take a minute and ask the question, we will
answer that question. And we'll probably answer that question
with more questions. You know, what do you got? What are you
doing? I've been working with a gentleman for the last couple
days through email. And it's kind of like been a little bit
like pulling teeth. He wanted some basic answers about how to
hone his block. But I need to know more about what you're
doing. What what is this thing? What are we doing with this
come to find out? It's an inline six cylinder twin sequential
turbos on alcohol. You know, it's like, whoa, that's a whole
different thing than what I thought it was. And that leads
me down a whole different path of what we need to do. And then
we started talking about the piston, one of the ring sizes.
You know, if I didn't know that, I could have completely given
him the incorrect answer. So bottom line is power is knowledge
knowledge is power. The more we know about what you're doing,
the more correct and better answer we can give you. So reach
out to us and ask us.
Absolutely. And so all the contact information is on the
website. You can call the number you can ask for Keith. That is
great. I feel like a telethon right here. Get on the phones
guys. But
Salute
arriving with core foundational information. It's a dragon
drive car. We're going to be running on so and so fuel. You
know, like some people run on ethanol and some people run on
unleaded gasoline. What are the core foundational elements to
that information that you need to go from general type of fuel
boosted unboosted versus naturally aspirated. What else?
That's perfect, Joe. Those are the questions. If you can give us
that information up front, bang, it's simple. What are you
working on? Basic information. You know, I'm working on a
small Chevy. It's a dart block. I've got sealant. I've got
pistons with an 043 043 three. I'm just throwing stuff on
spitball on here. And like Joe, it's a dragon drive car. I'm
running it on 85 when I can get it. But I'm also running it on
podcast. So I've got to have that. Oh, and it's got 10 pounds of
boost with a 250 shot of nitrous. Give us the details.
What's the block? What's the bore size? What are the ringer
sizes? What are you doing? What's your intended purpose with
this thing? What fuel are you running? The more we know up
front, the easier and quicker we can give you that straight
answer instead of having to ping back and forth, asking
question after question after question. So don't be afraid to
lay out the details. Now, I don't need to know if it's got
whitewall tires. And I don't need to know that it's got a 5500
stalk inverter or it's got a little dog in the back window.
You know, those kinds of things engine related. What are we
doing with it? What's the application? And that allows us
to answer your questions very quickly and when when he says
something like that, folks, it is my opinion that he has been
told that in the past. Yes, I have no doubt.
Listen, not and that's why you get you're an expert, because
people come to you because they just don't know. And that's the
whole point of disrupting the mystery in this area. It's a
very important aspect of the engine. The rings create great
friction. And so there is a lot to be gained, both in horsepower,
the hidden horsepower, but also in durability. And so that's what
we're trying to do. Let's talk about the gapless rings kind of
total seals. What you are known for the gapless rings, what
application wants a gapless ring?
Well, honestly, just about everything wants it and can use
it. Just the background total seal started with a gapless
top ring in 1967. That's where it all started. And kind of in the
late 70s, early 80s, they were having some problems with the
rings breaking and it moved into the second ring or some given
little history on the gapless ring here. And it stayed there.
Very honestly, until the late 90s, you know, I talked to Joe,
senior, the designer and the producer of that ring and no, no,
no, we did that tried it didn't work out. We moved to the second
you know, Matt came to work for the company, he and I both
started kind of working on it again, going, you know, I really
like that concept, we have to figure out why it didn't work. And
through testing R&D dyno work, getting them out into the field,
we realized that the end gap specification callouts weren't big
enough. The gapless top ring stops the heat in the crown of
the piston. It wants more gap. So we kept playing with it. We
figured out it wants about 10,000 more than a conventional
combination. So if I was normally putting it at 18 in my street
small block, what really needs to go in about 28 with a gapless
top, maybe a little more. And don't be afraid to run the
gapless ring bigger. It doesn't care. It's gapless. It could go
into 50,000. It doesn't care. Honey badger don't care. It just
wants more gap. If it butts the ring, it's going to be a
problem. So we really started working on the gapless ring. And
the things that we find with the gapless, even you know, gapless
top or gapless second, they pull harder on the intake stroke,
it fills the cylinder better. So if I'm working with a normally
aspirated engine, I'm going to hit that fuel system harder,
especially if it's a carburetor, I can tell you're working with
some of the early pop a name up Jeff Taylor doing Keith Lynch's
small block Nova years ago, you know, put a gapless ring and
Jeff calls me at things down on power. What do you think's going
on? And Jeff didn't build that engine originally. So he didn't
have the original dyno sheets. But we start looking at break
specific fuel consumption, how much fuel is this thing pulling
this thing's pulling like 20 pounds an hour more fuel to it.
It's fat as a big. Once Jeff got the fuel curve sorted out,
it's up 16 horsepower simply because it improved efficiency in
the intake track. So that's a big thing with the gapless on an
NA motor, but boosted applications, turbo applications,
those kinds. Now I can run a big gap and not have to worry
about that blow by problem. We talked about the dragon drive
situation. This is the perfect dual purpose ring. Let's say I've
got that 50 pound of boost application, and I'm going to
throw some nitrous at it. But I'm willing to do it 1% of the
time. I still got a clearance everything in the engine for
that 1% of the time. What about the 99% of the time it doesn't
run that condition? What's got a blow by problem because the
angaps are big, it might have a little loose piston wall clearance
that might be a little noisy when it's gold, but it's good when
it's and race trim. The gapless ring solves that I can put the
ring in, but the gaps big, not have to worry about blow by. So
I've got the best of both worlds there. So that's a place where
the gapless really benefits is in that dual purpose application.
Engines that also really benefit injected alcohol, mechanical
injected alcohol engine, Sprint cars. Not only does it draw
harder on the intake stroke, but now it keeps all the fuel out
of the pan. I'm not milk in the oil anymore. engines trying to
make vacuum in the crankcase. So I'm trying to pull a vacuum in
the bottom end. It's pulling vacuum through the end gaps of
the rings. So I'm losing some crankcase vacuum. I'm also
pulling fresh intake charge past the rings into bottom end with
a gapless. It's like putting a cork in the end of that straw. It
blocks it off. Vacuum goes up. I'm no longer pulling the clean
intake charge past the rings. Bottom line, more power. Another
benefit on that aluminum block that moves around horrible for
those guys that live by leak down numbers, it leaks down better.
So if you've got if you're building these professional and
you've got a customer, oh man, my engine's leaking 10%. You
know, it's an aluminum block, gapless ring, it's gonna leak
2%. So this is just a small tip of the iceberg. Diesel's Oh my
God, the diesel's just love the gapless ring, especially with
all the power adders that are on there, the making of the
tuners that start firing the injector sooner, the gapless
ring eliminates the fuel dilution and diesel just flat gets
rid of it. So there's a lot of upsides to the gapless ring.
Now, is it the right ring for everything? No, not necessarily.
It's a little more expensive. It may be not right for your
budget. You may just be doing a simple rebuild. Don't want to go
that far. Is it the right ring for everything? No, but you want
to know what in most applications is definitely
going to increase efficiency in that engine.
One of the big innovations brought forth by Total Seal,
really cool to hear how you and Matt Hartford were involved in
like bringing it along. And speaking of Matt Hartford, just
aside for a moment, how about this guy in NHRA Mission Foods
Pro Stock? I've got him in four consecutive final rounds, three
race wins having a career season as we hit the summer months.
This guy is looking really strong. What are things like at Total
Seal with Hartford winning as often as he is?
Well, I'll say this, when he does well, he's a happy guy.
There's nobody harder on Matt than Matt when he doesn't do
well. So I generally, if Matt has a bad day, I leave Malone for a
day. He needs to just kind of, you know, but that's Matt. He's
that serious. He's that passionate about it. And it
hurts when he does doesn't win that race. It hurts anything
other than when he's hurt. But they are working so hard. I'm so
proud of them. I don't want to say too much because I think I'm
the jinx. I don't stick around for finals on Sunday because I
don't want to be that guy that, you know, put the kibosh on it.
And I'm probably what I want to call I'm the most superstitious
least superstitious person you know. So I don't ever want to
put that kibosh on it. But man, I hope this is the year they
try so hard. I watch them. And again, you guys have all heard
this so many times. It's Matt. It's Eddie. It's excuse me. It's
it's Amber. It's Adam. I got choked up. You got emotional.
Look at this guy. He's getting emotional. Yeah, they work so
hard on this car. It is unbelievable. You know, I look
at other teams and again, I'm not throwing stones at anybody.
And I look at the entourage of people that are there at the
races and back at the shop working on it all the time. It's
the four of them. That's it. They occasionally have another
family member a friend pop in when they need some help. But man,
you'd be hard pressed to find five people in their pits. You
know, it's it just doesn't happen that often. Well, they work
really hard and they deserve this. They really truly do.
grit and determination going up against the likes of Greg
Anderson, KB Titan Pro stock going up against elite motor
sports and Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield, the best in the
business and holding their own and doing exceptionally well. If
I you know, if I'm looking to to advice on how to build my
racing engines or my engines or even my street engine, that's
the kind of people that I want to go to. Certainly. Let's talk
about innovation. Gas ported rings. First of all, explain to
folks out there since the the gapless ring is a huge total
seal innovation. The gas ported ring is something that is very
special and helps with seal utilized a lot in like stock
eliminator and those guys. But who is this ring for? And is it
only for racing engines? No, it's not. And if you everybody
hangs on for one second, I shouldn't leave the scene, but
I'm going to be right back.
He look at that. And after this, Keith Jones will return. And it
is my moment to tell you to please subscribe to Hidden
Horsepower presented by Total Seal Apple podcast Spotify, the
audio only version goes up at this version, of course, on
YouTube. And Keith is now back.
I'm back. See how fast that was. And we didn't even have to
make an edit. So for those that don't know for the, you know,
for the, we'll say more casual listener watcher these days. If
you can see this piston, this happens to be a pro mod piston.
And these little holes right here, they're all above the
top ring. These are what are called lateral gas ports. We
can bring it closer. Bring it even closer, Keith. Get in there.
Yeah, we see it better now. Those are lateral gas ports.
Explain what they do.
Yeah, you can also bring them in from the top called a vertical
gas port. That'd be a similar kind of hole drilled right out at
this outer edge. And what that little port is there to do is take
that combustion pressure. Now keep mine. This is, you know, I
don't know, six, 7000 horsepower pro mod, 57 stages of
nitrous. I don't know anymore. It's crazy. It's insane. These
guys are nuts. And I love it. But we're trying to get all that
gas pressure in behind the ring to gas activate rings are gas
activated. So we need to get that gas pressure in behind the
ring and push that ring blow it out onto the board. You know,
the ring can only do so much with its own built in natural
tensions. It's got to have that gas pressure behind it. So that
ring being kind of a crown or a barrel face that pressure wedge
that's pushed down with all the way to the peak of the barrels
trying to force that thing around think about like a wedge in a
log, you know, you're using that little wedge and it splits that
whole log apart. Why? Because of that unit pressure. So it's the
same thing right here. We're using that pressure is trying to
push the ring off the board. We've got to get that pressure in
behind the ring and force it out. And that's what these little
ports are for to get that gas pressure behind there. Well, where
we started with the gas port ring are classes of racing that
don't allow that modification to the piston. One of them Joe just
brought up an HRA stock. Now you can run them in super stock, but
not in an HRA stock. It is not allowed. So working with
customers working with different persons, one of them being Ray
Barton throwing a throwing a little, you know, a little out
there to Ray and David. We're looking at how can we do this? How
can we implement this and get this in here without violating
the rules when I build a legal engine? And well, there's
nothing in the rulebook that says we can't move that slot from
the piston and put it in the ring itself. Let's move it down
into the ring. So we did that. The first one to run it was Ray.
We had a lot of conversations about it's like put this thing in
if it breaks your junk, it's not my fault. Ray Ramsey, man, it
is better than ever. And it's just evolved since then. Beautiful
things about putting the gas port in the ring. So as you can
see, this is stationary, the piston's not rotating this way,
it's going up and down like this. So we have fixed contact
load points. So the pressure is going up, we'll get wear lines
in the board, especially in alcohol engines, when we've got a
lot of fuel going through, it's trying to dilute the oil, you
can get high pressure wear lines in the cylinder by putting it
in the ring, the rings rotating, the rings always turning. So
we're spreading that cylinder pressure out across the board,
getting a little more uniform ring seal, reduced forward
because we're not concentrating that in one spot. The other
thing we don't get is reversion on the intake stroke. So if the
piston company by some chance put the gas ports in incorrectly,
either not deep enough or too deep, you can create reversion
around the ring on the intake stroke. This is going down. I've
created a leak pathway around the back of the ring. It's pulling
oil and dirty, nasty combustion gases through the ring and
contaminating the intake stroke. So putting it in the ring,
eliminates that process. Now, the beautiful thing is because
most rings are made out of a ferrous metal, even our stainless
steel rings still have a chimer content in them, the detergents
that are in your engine oil are cleaning ferrous metals. So we
don't get carbon contamination in the gas ports that we would in
a normal race piece, because the oils aren't cleaning the gas
ports out. So it is cleaning that gas port keeps the ring
rotating clean. So the point being is not only can you run your
race car, you can run in your street car. I have tons and tons
and tons of customers that will buy over the counter shelf
pistons, especially in today's world with the LSes and the mods
and all these engines. What's the first thing you do with one of
those things? Oh, gotta boost it. Can't just drive it. Gotta
boost it. And, you know, we're buying shelf pins and, you know,
putting 30 pound to boost on these things and that requires
gas ports. If you want really good ring seal, it's got to have
gas ports. So now you can buy that shelf piston and buy the
gas port ring, combine it and you've got the best of both worlds.
Another question that comes up and this may be on Joe's list,
but I'm going to lead to it right now. I get asked all the time,
can I run that gas ported piston with a gas ported ring? And
that answer is, hell, yes, you can. It works phenomenal. I
can't tell you how many customers I have that are in the
extreme. I can honestly say this, it has been run in top fuel.
And it's better. We can combine the two together. You can
literally combine a gas ported ring and a gavel string. It's
almost all a cart. We can mix these things up the way you
want. Gas ported ring, gavels with a gas ported piston, you
can select the best way. Again, reach out to us. Let's talk
about your application. And what's the best? I've done this
many, many times, especially like little power sport
applications, some of these crazy, crazy snowmobiles, making
you know, 100 horsepower a cylinder, we'll do a gavel is
gas ported in these things. And they're out running around in
the middle of winter, you know, boosting the hell out of it on
E85 and got a warm one in their hand, got a little land to
freeze while they're riding out there having a good time.
Well, and I think that's a great subject change. But to stay on
the same topic, power sports guys, those guys running
something that we're not talking about a conventional LS v8
coyote, we're talking about they need rings to what about when
people go to the website, and they're searching that the first
thing people do now is they go to the website or they go do their
own research, people aren't just picking up the phone anymore,
but they're not seeing their application on the website,
they're not necessarily seeing it because it's something a
little different, like you said, a snowmobile, power sports,
supercross style, two stroke style. That doesn't mean that
you don't have it.
Absolutely not. So the website is a is a great tool, the
internet's a great tool, but it's a limited amount of
information. I like to tell people all the time, I wish there
was a site out there that had everything you ever wanted to
know about anything you could ever think of listed, but it
just doesn't exist. I wish there was that because it would make
my life a lot easier. The data that we have, if you go to our
website, you can search by engine search by application,
there's a mountain of information, what you have to
understand is like you click on that. And let's say it's a 3208
caterpillar and you click on that and you see a ring set
number. Okay, to you, that's just a part number. To me, it's a
whole lot of information behind that. I need to know what's
the bore size of the engine? What's the width and the depths of
the ring grooves for all the rings that are on that piston?
What's the cylinder? Is the cylinder iron? Is it nicosil? Is
it aliasil? I have to know all that data about the inside of
that engine so that I can make up that part number. There's a
bomb of ill material that goes behind that. And guess what?
There's nowhere for me to go. I can't find that website of
everything worth knowing. I have to buy these parts or buy
these engines, take them apart, figure out what's in them, get
all the measurements, make up drawings, and then create that
database. Now we've got a database and all that. It's a
lot. It's a lot of information. Can I call up Honda and ask them
for those kinds of internal specs on a B18? Hell no. You know
what they tell me? Go buy one and figure it out. That's how it
works. So there's a lot of great data on there, but there's a
mountain of data that's not there simply because I don't know
what's inside that engine. So I need you. I need your help. I
need you don't see it on there. You've got a KTM 450. I've never
had a KTM 450 apart. I'd love to ride one. I'm sure it's a
rocket ship. But if you work with me, I'll work with you
because I need to know port size, ring groups, widths and
depths. I need to know is a cylinder iron. Is it Nicosil? And
then once we have that data, we can store that data and have it
for the next time. So the bottom line, if you don't see it,
reach out to us. There's millions of applications that we
don't have the data on. And it's not that we can't do it. We
just don't know what goes in that engine. And if you work with
us, we'll figure it out and we'll get you a set of rings. I'm
doing one right now. For example, 1500cc Kawasaki Vulcan
motorcycle. Gentleman's overseas. No rings available from
Kawasaki. They will not give him any internal engine
specifications. But with him and his mechanic and working back
and forth through emails, we have figured out what this thing
is. It is Nicosil coated. It's 103mm bore. It's a 1.2, 1.22
millimeter. And guess what? I've got them. They're on the
shelf. So problem solved. We just need the data. So if you
don't see it, work with us. We'll figure it out.
And it all starts out reach out to Total Seal. We used to stay
at the beginning and you can remember this, Keith. Make them
your first call, not your last call. If they are your first
call, then you can build from there. If they are your last
call, it might be a little more challenging. You mentioned top
fuel. That might go ahead.
I said, no, it can be when we're your last call, we're usually
cleaning up the mess.
It happens.
A lot.
You'll take the call, but you'd rather it be first.
Everybody save a lot of time. Now you mentioned top fuel.
That's where I work on the weekends and Total Seal has gone
down that road now supplying nitro rings. How's that going?
It's going well. We're learning, they're learning. You know, I
see a lot of things in those engines. I probably like to do
different, but that's a whole different whole another
conversation. I wish somebody made a better spark plug for them.
I'll throw that out there. That's a problem. But yeah, working
with those guys really working on bore finishes, trying to get
them into modern age on how to hone these things and they're
listening. That's the most the really exciting part is they're
listening to what we have to say. And they're seeing the
benefits. We're seeing, you know, longer ring life, we're
seeing less war wear, less piston wear, better ring seal, less
pan pressure, and winning races at the same time. So it's, it's
one of those engines and I'm not picking on anybody in that
industry, but I see so much of it. Well, it's how we've done it
for the last 30 years or 40 years. And that's all fine and
dandy, but that only gonna get you so far. We've got to start
adopting some of the modern ways of doing things. And there's
quite a few of the teams that are out there because they see,
they see the benefit, results. So it's great
working with them. It's great getting to know these guys. You
know, you know, a year ago, I couldn't name more than one or
two of the guys, you know, in the teams. And now we know quite a
few of them. So it's exciting. We're learning from each other.
Very exciting. Alright, let's move from the rings themselves
into surface finish. Everyone asks about the home, how to hone
a cylinder, of course, more questions, right? Is what are
we going to do with this? Is it for racing? driving
on the street? Is it drag and drive? What is this engine for?
Is very important. But generally speaking, talk a little bit
about cylinder finish, surface finish, and what you guys are
liking these days.
It's a it's a big topic. It really is. Again, you know, reach
out to us, myself, the rest of the gang here, we're all pretty
on top of this thing. And but like Joe talked about before,
let's let's try to keep that conversation tidy. You'll give
me everything, man. Let me know what kind of block it is. If
it's sleeved, what who did the sleeve rings, rings packs, what
are you doing with it? You know, it's a street car, race car,
dual purpose, you know, tell me as much as you can about it,
what fuel are we going to run? You know, that way I know about
it. Again, another conversation again today with a guy going
back and forth. You know, I gladly help you gladly answer, but
it shouldn't take 15 emails to do it. If you give me all the
information up front, I can answer in one email. And then
we're both not complaining don't think I am, but it just makes
it a lot tidier for both of us. So when we know those things,
we can help you. But the bottom line, the trend in honing these
days is much starting off with a much, much rougher stone that
won't we used to in the old days. Back in the old and God rest
his soul and legendary racer, you know, the old Bob Glidden
system, Bob would hone a cylinder that was polished as smooth
as a piece of glass, and it made great power in the dyno and
it was really good for one race, but it was good for one race
and one race only it was worn out after that. And what we have
found today is that we can get both that power, and
we can get that longevity and durability by going with a very
aggressive stone to start with to lay in that base to lay in
that valley and then coming back over and slicking off the top
getting that smooth surface, but just on the top making that
true plateau with a nice deep valley. What happens when we
polish the boards is we have no valley, we just have this very,
very smooth surface with a little bit of valley in it, no
real life, no real longevity. And that's the problem. And
especially in applications like easels, top fuel, blown alcohol,
sprint car engines that are putting copious amounts of fuel
through. Well, that fuel is trying to displace that oil,
it's trying to get rid of that oil. And that fuel is not
lubricant, it will dilute that oil. And now we've got a
border wear problem, we've got a ring seal problem, because it's
simply not running on the oil. One of the other guys here, I
can tell you right now, Kevin, he's got a customer, he's
working with overseas guys complaining about problems. We
finally got to see some videos of the car running. It's not oil
smoke, it's fuel, it's blowing black out the back of this car.
And that's the problem. It's a fuel trim problem, because the
fuels kill in the oil. Once they get the tune up sorted out,
that problem's going to go away. It is fuel related. So part of
battling that is getting that deep valley with that smooth top,
so we can get some oil retention. That's the crux of what
we're doing honing wise today, versus what we did, say 10,
15, 20 years ago. But one of the real big questions is to again,
know that application, work with a machine shop that has the
tools of pro kilometer, a way to measure that more finished. I
did this cutaway earlier, I'm going to do it again, it'll take
about two seconds.
There he goes. So we ask you to subscribe and click the bell. You
can also listen to the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or
SoundCloud. We appreciate you guys can drop a comment in the
comment section. So funny, he's now back.
I move quick. This is a pro kilometer. This is surface
roughness test. This one happens to be a miditoyo SJ 210. The
current model is the SJ 220. I guess I'll put the plug in, we
do sell them. So if you're interested in one, we have them
available. But this will actually read surface finished
numbers. I've got RZ values, RKs, RPKs, RVKs. I can literally
look at, you know, material ratio numbers, MR1s, MR2s. I can
see what the actual surface looks like trying to get you out of
the glare of the first light.
Handy handy tool. This is something you go to a machine
shop. You start talking to your guy, you want him just like
having any work done in your house, you want to qualify your
guy, you want to find out who he is. Oh, you've been doing this
for 40 years, you've built this, you've done that. Hey, you know,
this guy's got some experience. And that's great. Or you know,
the young guys, young guys are really into the tech. These are
a tool, this is a tool that any, and I'm not picking on anybody
still thinking, but a guy or a shop that cares about the work
they're putting out the door is going to own one of these. This
is an important tool to have. And you want to find out if your
guys got one, if he doesn't, you know, if you want to get one.
I'm not trying to throw stones at anybody, but that when it comes
to honing for more, I sit, I wouldn't even turn on a hone if I
didn't have one of those.
And they are available at Total Seal as our other tools,
including ring tools, you guys have a whole line of tools
available at Total Seal.
Yeah, we built power ring filers. I think we built the best
power ring filer in the world, in-house ring compressors,
leak down testers, all built in-house. We carry the trace
bar software, you know, that's the that's the next step up
from just the Profilometer. Really great tools to have. They
just it's like anything else. I mean, you have a job you're
doing, you got the wrong tool, you hate the job, it's nothing
but a problem, you're cursing square, you know, everything's
wrong, you got the right tool for the job snaps done just like
that.
You got to know what it is. And now we can measure and now you
have got easy to access tools and information. Why would you not
want to know what the surface finish looks like? All right,
finally, let's talk about breaking in an engine. This is a
topic that is all over the YouTube, the shade, you know,
no disrespect at all. But everybody is firing up engines
and it's really cool to see an engine run for the first time.
But I just went through this Keith with Project Pontiac, you
know, when you spend every dime you've saved and every person
that you've known has helped you and everybody is all excited
and we're going to fire this thing up for the first time. That
is a stressful day. That's not exciting. It's stress. And you've
got to do it the right way. What is the right
100% breakings with a rubber hits the road. It really is this
is going to show the results of what you just did or didn't do.
And it's very, very important that we use one, a good breaking
oil. This is very, very important. There are lots of
breaking oils out there. I'm not here to sell oil. But I am here
to tell you you want to do your research, because there is
nothing that says this is a breaking oil. Anybody can slap a
label on a bottle that says breaking oil. What's in it? You
don't know. You know who knows? Lake Speed. Get on Lake's
website speed diagnostics. He's checking oil. He's telling you
what's in that oil. The things you want the things you don't
want. And one of the things you don't want is a Molly content
or I Molly content. During breaking, we want friction. I
want anti scuff in the oil so I don't scratch the parts. But
I'm not trying to cut friction. I'm not I'm not trying to make
horsepower right now. I'm trying to break it in. I want some
friction between these parts. It's like trying to break in a set
of brake pads on a new rotor. I mean, you just don't go jump on
the thing you got when I'm work together. It's the same thing
with rings. I've got to give it time to let it work the surfaces
together. Get rid of those final imperfection breaking is the
last part of the honing cycle breaking is the last part of the
ring lapping cycle. We have to get that on the engine get a
running. So we want to make sure we've got a proper breaking
oil. Again, I'm not trying to pitch everything here. But
Lake's website breaks that down. There's quite a few brands that
we know of, you know, that are very good HPL high performance
lubricants out at Illinois is one of them. The driven products
very good. Motel, you know, Motul their 10 W 40 ticks all the
boxes. But there are others. There's others that are good.
There's others that are bad. Do not doctor your oil. You do not
need to put additives in. You can way overdo it and kill the
oil. I have literally seen additives get put into an oil
and it turns into a big bucket of jello. I was at perfect
example. John forces a couple of years ago, they put an additive
into their oil. They were told was going to be the be all end
all it turned it into a cake pan. You literally turn the oil
pan over, lift it up. That's your oil. That's what happened
when those two chemistry that chemistry hit each other. So you
have to be very careful with this stuff. Just buy why not keep
it simple. Go buy a proper breaking oil. Now with that
said, next thing we want to get it out and get a load on it as
quick as can. We don't want to let them sit that thing idling
for hours at a time. I mean, you want to fire it up. Check your
timing, check your valves, make sure it's not leaking, and then
get it out and get a load on it. I'm not telling you to go bury
the thing. You'll bury the tack five minutes coming out of
the driveway, but go out, get a load on it. Don't baby it.
Don't beat it. We want to get it out. We got to make that engine
work. Sitting there with no load on the engine is not helping
your rings. Another thing I'll say is if you don't have a handle
on your fuel curve, when you fire it up, whether it's EFI or
carbureted, you are you are playing Russian roulette man,
you are spinning that cylinder, and you probably got more than
one bullet in there because it is looking to be a problem and
overly rich fuel system is not going to help your engine break
in. So we want to use a carburetor. If it's carbureted that
we know and we trust is correct. If it's EFI, we want to make
sure that it's got a proper map before we start it. I'll say
this, if you're not sure about the map in that computer, fire it
on a stock ECU, that'll get it running, at least get it a
chance. Once you've got it running in, now you can make a
switchover, but know that the fuel system is correct before
you fire that engine. Give it a chance. If you're going to
break it out. Now this is all assuming it's in the car. Now
if it's on the dyno, which you run a better chance because
it's a more controlled environment, but it's the same
thing, you want to fire it up, get a load on it. If it's a
vacuum engine, don't let it pull vacuum right off the bat,
whether it's in the car or on the dyno, we want to let it free
breathe while we're making some heat, get the oil up, get the
water up, let it free breathe, let it get the oil on the parts
where the oil needs to be. We don't want the vacuum pulling all
the oil off parts initially. But once we've got it warmed up,
cap it up, put some load on it, put 150 foot pounds, 75,
depending on the power level of the engine, put some load on it
and make it work. Move the RPM around like you're breaking a
flat tap of cam and don't let it sit at one RPM, 3,500 for a
while, four grand back down to 25, back up to 45, move it
around, do this for about 15 minutes. At the end of that, you
can put a couple of quick hits on it, make sure everything
looks good. My personal thing at that point, I shut it off, I
go out, knock the valve covers off, check my last check my
springs, check my timing. After I'm sure everything's good, put
the valve covers back on, let the beatings commence.
How about that? Absolutely love it. Keith Jones, director of
technical sales at Total Seal Piston Rings. This is what Q&A is
all about. The questions that people have the most often. And
I feel like there's always going to be more people can drop them
into the comments section. We ask you to share this show with
your friends. But really, there's a whole host of episodes of
Hidden Horsepower. In our next episodes, we'll get back to our
celebrity engine builders and talking a little more theory and
finding out what's going on out there in the drag racing world,
the drag and drive world and others. But these are vital
questions that people who are skimming through the YouTube
looking to find getting ready to build their first engine or have
their first engine built, they need to know.
Absolutely. And we're here to help. We're here to help answer
those questions. Don't feel that we're not we're approachable.
We always answer back. You know, that is a cornerstone of what
we are as service. You know, do I want to sell your rings? Oh,
hell yeah, I want to sell your rings. Matt wants me to sell
your rings. You know, but at the end of the day, I've got to
make sure that you're getting the best possible package for what
you're doing that is right for what you're doing. And we're
here to answer those questions. Glad to help as always.
And where do they get ahold of you? What is the best way? Of
course, the website TotalSeal.com is a wealth of
information, great resources. But if they want to escalate,
they've got all their information, what it is, what
they're going to use it for, what fuel they run, all of the
vital information that we've listed here, they want to have a
nice, you know, back and forth with with vital information.
What's their next step? Well, yeah, you've got the website,
of course, that's going to lead you to our email addresses.
Like I said, there's not just myself as the other guys were
all on there. But if you want to pick up that phone and call us
the toll freeze 800-874-2753, or the direct dial is 623-587-6223.
Pick up that phone, give us a call, you know, one-on-one
telephone conversation, don't let it be a lost art.
Just like that. And that's not just for race car stuff. That's
for you and your friends and your family as well. People love to
hear from you. Keith loves hearing from you. Great job. As
usual, I appreciate you greatly. This is very informative.
I appreciate it. And I'm gonna, I know we're not supposed to
date these, I know we're not supposed to, but I'm gonna say,
go team Hartford kick ass on the Western Swing.
That is a fact. They are highly motivated, running better than
ever before mixing it up with the big guys and anything is
possible at this point in the season. He's Keith Jones. I'm
Joe Costello. You can come see me out at NHRA. I also do a
show called WFO Radio. That's really more of this. Me asking
questions of highly intelligent people who are involved in
racing. In the meantime, we appreciate you guys out there.
Check out the Total Seal website. We'll see you next time on
Hidden Horsepower presented by Total Seal.
About this episode
Keith Jones of Total Seal walks through a Q&A on choosing piston rings and getting them to seal for the engine you’re actually building. The conversation starts with basics—street vs racing, fuel type, boosted vs naturally aspirated, and ring sizing—then digs into gapless rings, end-gap clearance, and how gas-ported designs “activate” sealing under nitrous and boost. They also cover cylinder honing and break-in, including why measurement, oil choice, and avoiding long idles matter.
If you are building or rebuilding an engine...start here. Keith Jones answers questions from the basics of ring seal, to cylinder finish, to break in oil, and more. Gapless rings are a hot topic. Questions are answered on this episode.
