Ive just taken the head of my fj n/a and i'm replacing the valve stem seals......while the head is off i was thinking about changing the piston rings. IS this a hard job? what needs to be done and i dont really understand the piston ring placement in the fj manual. Can anyone give me a quick overview. Also where can i purchase the rings? stewart wilkins? Any help appreciated

Hi, if your gunna pull the head off and then do rings, you should really do bearings too. I would say the easiest way would be to pull the sump off, knock the pistons out through the top, do rings, and when your putting it back together, but in big ends and mains too. there not that dear.

Gareth

Although note that it really should be honed when replacing rings,which means the whole things gotta come apart,and also has to be run in. Just doing valve stem seals is less hassle...depends how far you want to go with it..

is it hard to be honed? can i do this myself.....i alrewady ahve the pistons out

You need a toilet brush bore de-glazer and the job needs to be done very lightly and quickly retaining an even 45Deg. cross hatch pattern the full length of the bore.
Do this with a variable speed drill at a modertae speed and remove the absolute minimum of metal and ensure you remove metal EVENLY the entire length of ther bore.

You need to carefully protect the crank from grinding **** that will drop down and the bores will then need to be washed with soapy water to remove the last of the filings and toilet brush hone remains.

You will either fix it or **** it so if you are not 100 percent sure about it then get a machine shop to do it for you properly.

Happy daze!

L8tr
E

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The older we get........the faster we used to be!

Rule 1 . Do NOT use a bottlebrush hone unless you fit new soft rubishy rings . Decent rings are chrome and will not seal unless the bore is perfectly round and parallel . Needs to be honed on something serious like a CK10 hydraulic load sensing hone .

what will happen if i replace the rings with out honing at all?

You wont get the best possible seal, and compression may still be down.

Gareth

You can also suffer from oil control ring dramas and the thing may smoke for evermore.
On the other hand it may just seal up and go like buggery.
You never really know when re-ringing in a used bore.

Have fun.
L8tr
E