Folks- Necessity is the mother of invention. Today, I was an unaccompanied engineer, working on a twin listeroid; putting in new rings.
I'm of the opinion that with a lister/listeroid rebuild, the pistons and connecting rods go on the engine BEFORE the cylinders. A standard V-8 engine rebuilder wouldn't fathom such blasphemy, but we purists do what we do...
And so, HOW does ONE man, with the rudimentary tools of a house-frau, manage to come to a bold and "yet so obvious" method of "jacking" a lister cylinder down onto a ringed piston? Well my friends stand by....I ain't saying I was the FIRST one to figure this out, but I've studied these engines for a bit, and I've never heard of this method. So...it worked for me. It worked well. I damaged nothing. I used the standard tools of a no-body. I did it myself. It was simple and effective. Mouth watering yet?
You'll need: Rings on the piston, properly placed offset, and assurance that your gaps are correct in your bore. The connecting rod torqued to spec, with proper clearance for movement on the journal. The cylinder honed to your liking. A "bit" of heavy oil or light grease on the cylinder skirt taper (on the bottom), whereby the rings squeeze into this taper and into the bore. You'll ALSO need two sets of vice-grip pliers.
Position the ringed piston ABOUT half-way up the throw. Lubricate the rings now, just before installation, with a good motor oil. MAKE sure you've got the proper offset...
Now, you've got studs sticking out of the block. Likely one or two of them are NOT quite tight. Maybe a little slack in them? PUT some slack in each one of them. Maybe a good couple of turns out from bottom. It'll make it easier to align the cylinder with the studs, if they can each flop about a bit....but I digress. Sure, you can retighten them once we're done with this exercise...
Now- sight along the TOP of the piston, as it's hand-held square in the bottom hole coming up from the crankcase. Grab a set of vice-grip pliers and lock them down to one of the studs, JUST above where the top of that piston is now located. Grab a second set of vice grips, repeating the prior step, but on a different stud.
Next- Get the piston centered in the hole, and use the crank to JUST start an upward motion of that piston going into the bottom of the cylinder.
(Yawn, right? Hey, we're JUST about to get to the good part.....)
Mkay- drop the cylinder JUST ABOVE the first ring. HOLD that cylinder in place with those vice-grip pliers on the studs. Remember how I told you to unthread them a turn or two, so they're floppy? Yeah.....here we go.
Now that the cylinder is JUST ABOVE that first ring, go ahead and grab one of those vice grip pliers and TURN IT. Turning that stud further INTO the block (clockwise) will ever-so slowly DROP that cylinder further onto that ringed piston, as its controlled or "stopped" by that vice-grip pliers. See that the ring is centered, then grab the OTHER vice-grip pliers and TURN IT. Turn THAT other stud further into the block. Watch for the attitude of that ring, and persuade it up into that taper (fingers/screw drivers, etc). Continue to turn the studs, with the vice-grip attached (as your jack), alternating between the two jacks, and repositioning them when appropriate...and that cylinder and those rings will ever so gently and slowly assume its proper relationship with THAT ring. The important concept to understand: The STUDS, coupled with the vice-grip pliers ARE YOUR JACKS. Use the threaded studs AS YOUR JACKS.
Sure, you turn that stud enough, and you're going to run out of threads again. Gosh, what's an idiot to do? I think you all can figure this part out!
Any way, TODAY was an awesome learning day. If any of you are confused about the use and employment of a "jack", and what I mean by "nice and slow" and convey "well controlled", please feel free to PM me.
