A question about Piston Rings

[Smokey Eddy]

So i bought Prothe's $9 ring sets when i did my build and ... ... ... no comment. Needless to say someone commented on my build and said "good job with those cheap rings you're gonna hate your self when you gotta re-do it when they decide they don't want to seal"
and they couldn't be more right. im burning a notable amount of oil. the cold starts are exceedingly rough, lots of blue behind me driving out of my block, not running on all cyls and the like.

Soooooooooo

back when i was looking for ring sets originally the VW shop said $60/set and the Lordco said something insane like $250+++ per set...

The only difference i see is price. As it stands the $60/set are what im going to go for but i know a lot of that number is mark up because of where im buying them from.
Does anyone else have a good source for rings? I don't mind ordering online and waiting a month. It will do the way it is for a month. I just need to do this before it starts to get below freezing at night.
I've heard about Total Seal being a superior brand.
My build makes some above average power. Needless to say the rings will need to handle 25psi and a decent amount of torque as that will be through a large IC. (so probably not really 25 pounds but ... the torque is going to be up there at times. Merging onto the highway, showing off my hard work to my friends and of COURSE smoking literally and figuratively the ricers.)
Thanks Fellas I really appreciate any input!

[rabbitman]

It seems strange that the rings sealed for a while and then lost the seal

Did you confirm that it's for sure the rings and not valve guides???

Does it start hard in the cold?

[blackdogvan]

Is that $60 per cylinder from the dealer so x4?

[maxfax]

It seems strange that the rings sealed for a while and then lost the seal

Did you confirm that it's for sure the rings and not valve guides???

Does it start hard in the cold?

The Top Line rings I had did just about that..   In the beginning they were too bad.. Some oil consumption, but nothing crazy for it not being broken in..  Unfortunately, the longer it went the worse they got..   Threw a set of Grant rings in and it's been GTG ever since...

[Smokey Eddy]

It turns a few times before it starts and when it does start it runs on 2 cyls. LOTS of white, really rough. it's obvious 1 or more cyls are not firing. Then afterwards burns blue until it gets hot enough that i would imagine you can't see the blue OR possibly the burning of the oil decreases.

that's 60$/set from a vw specialty shop called AVR. there is 1 in abbotsford and 1 in kamloops in British Columbia.

Yes, it would seem like they sealed alright and then wore at a catastrophic rate. Or something like that.
I am first to blame the extremely cheap rings, but could the issue be that i needed to overbore?
The EGT's touched 1,200 very briefly on a long hill climb. after that the oil burning was noted and the cold starts have been getting worse.

[rabbitman]

1200F egt isn't all that high, I hit 1350F for like 1 second (once) and have suffered no ill effects. I wouldn't hold it at 1200 for very long that's for sure.
Bummer yer havin' such a bad time with it.....hang in there!!!!

[Smokey Eddy]

It's what i get for going to the bottom of the barrel. Oh well... I had no other choice. I knew it was a bad idea but i didn't have the money for real rings.

[Kantdrivefast]

It's what i get for going to the bottom of the barrel. Oh well... I had no other choice. I knew it was a bad idea but i didn't have the money for real rings.

People can never afford to do it right the first time, but somehow afford to do it again....

[Smokey Eddy]

=( Tell me about it. Believe me i wanted to go with the right rings but it would have meant taking out a loan :S
which in hind sight would have been the better move. the interest would have been less than those cheap ass rings + head gastket + my time...

[lord_verminaard]

$60 each!?!!?  Holy ***balls.  I think my Goetze rings from Myke were like $80 or something for all 4 pistons.  Order them from Myke, even shipping to canada would be cheaper.

Brendan

[Justin]

I have bought the last two sets of rings from Autohausaz.com and had good luck with the 1st set, the 2nd set went in two days ago and I hope to have it running this weekend if all goes well.

mine are Grants and I paid like $23 for the set. the website listed above is the cheapest I have found for all parts for the engine.

later
jkeiffer

[catlin_cava]

I'm sorry but when it comes down to Internals, like Piston Rings, why skimp out and get a cheap set?

[truckinwagen]

because some of us are poor enough to have to make decisions like "do I get the expensive rings, or eat this week?"

I have had good results with the grant rings from autohausaz.

[Kantdrivefast]

because some of us are poor enough to have to make decisions like "do I get the expensive rings, or eat this week?"

Im sorry, but if thats your excuse, then you shouldn't be building a car.

[maxfax]

It's not all about how much you spend on a part either..   I've had expensive crappy parts, and cheap crappy parts..  I've used the Grant rings (@ around $25 a set) and they have worked lightyears better than Top Line rings (@ $65 a set)..

For me,  the Grant rings have performed just as well as the Goetze rings..  Now as far as those bargin basement rings, well there is such a things as too cheap as we have learned...   Of course the only way we all know this is by someone else's misfortune..  But if they would have been good and held up, I'd be buying $9 piston rings from now on...