GroovyCarrot wrote:don't know what that strange straight edge on your pistons is all about
probably some kind of germanic voodoo....
still can't find that fourth piston, I honestly don't have a clue where it's got to..
what a wierd thing to happen..... has a small relative picked it up as a toy?
any luck getting hold of piston rings elsewhere?
haven't looked, to be honest. I'll have to see if Car Spares or anywhere like that can help. VAGparts?
...hell, i might have to get in contact with a stealers
they're very, very brittle
yeah, so i've recently learned
Do check the end gaps of the piston rings in the bores, they should be fine but just in case. You will need to remove the oil pump pickup / strainer tube, but you can work around the pump. A set of feeler guages costs about £3 and is a very useful thing to have. Auto accessory shops, tool shops, garages, anywhere will stock them.
b*llocks! between making the post and reading this, i caved in to the temptation / fear and went and got some from halfords. after all... unlike the other stuff, i'll more likely than not have a need for them some day. even if it's checking the gaps on plugs. may as well check the tappet clearances while i have them, too.
ten quid. robbing sods. i'll go cruise past a local petrol station and see what they have... seven pounds is, after all, seven pounds, or to put it another way, three pints of good premium lager.
thanks for the other info
other measurements with micrometers and verniers etc only really apply if you're willing to replace entire pistons, get the block rebored etc..
yay!
cuz i didn't even SEE those things in halfords (and i went to the bigger of the local ones, which is enormous - size of a modest Asda)
= probably quite pricey, from somewhere like machine mart
big ends, don't worry about the clearances.. do change the bearings if they look worn though, they don't cost much and they're easy to do
um, ok... is it easy to tell?
Use the running in period to do as much rush hour work as you can and p*** off plenty of irate commuters. Nothing like a bit of maliciousness. Always worth putting a legible sign in the back window saying something along the lines of 'Running in engine, please pass' if you feel slightly more friendly.
well i was thinking along those lines, but more like a trip to me dads and back and some other long distance work (i only have about a week of insurance i can put on it before needing to buy a whole year - bloody endsleigh), get it all in as quick as possible..... on busy A-roads and the like. Even better is that going down to bournemouth involves some cracking hills that even on the motorways have knocked the beast back to little more than 65mph at the best of times. Low 3000s rpm + about 70% throttle x 55lbft or less = not so much bhp (say, 22.5?) = the "how big a queue can i build up?" game, especially on those hills without passing lanes... get it down to 3rd or 2nd to avoid labouring
though i'd probably try a little bit of flack deflection with a big condescending sign and a little "honk if in a hurry" note where i'll pull over to get out of the way at the ... hehe ... "earliest" opportunity. IE the next layby, even if its two or more miles.
thanks for the reply, feel a bit better about it now, though not sure where i'll find the rings from. ebay, wanted section, etc i suppose. Or just whimper at GSF's email door.
better yet the florida everglades-like conditions outside seem to have died down, suns out and the puddles have dried up some, so i might go put a couple of old plastic macs down and get that sump off at last.....
..... how screwed am I eh 
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