well i have been looking @ all brands of piston rings to buy and i am confused! I hear that sealed pwr rings are pretty good but 2 store chains are out of stock. what i can get are hastings, cleavite and high tek. i have heard very bad things about high tek. so tomorrow i place my order for piston rings. what brand would you u guys put in your car and why?

because i plan on these being in use for a long while and now is a good time to get the proper ones.

thanks.

neil parker - aka MiDi

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

I would use Hastings moly rings for an engine I expect to see many years of service. If the engine likely won't see a lot of miles or may get into detonation a little then I would use plain or chrome rings as they will still last a long time and detonation won't take out the moly. For a highly boosted engine then start looking at ductile or stainless rings.

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Joshua

Well, FWIW, when I rebuilt the 400 I had in my '70 Fury in '92, I used Sealed Power cast iron rings. I used cast iron instead of moly rings because the iron rings seat faster than moly (or so I was told). To be honest, I really didn't do a proper break in, just started driving it like normal. Never smoked. I replaced the heads in '99 due to a couple of bad valves, and the cylinders still had the cross hatch pattern and good compression. Still ran great when I sold the engine in 2000 (drunk driver totaled the car and my lower back in late '99).

Moly actually seats quite easily. Chrome rings are relatively more difficult to seat.

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Joshua

thanks for the info.

the engine is stock (w/ super six & headers) and will be a daily driver with a few passes on the drag strip for fun. so i am looking for somthing that will hold up well for years of use.

the hastings seem the cheapest, next in price is the clevites.

also i am wondering what rod bearings i should get cleavite or sealed power. i have cleavite 77 main bearings in there now. is it ok to have one brand of rod bearings and another brand of main bearings?

neil parker - aka MiDi

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project