Hastings rings

Oh no, not rings again! Why do Hastings make 3 piece and 1 piece oil control rings and what's the consensus

I ended up not fitting +20 Hasting rings.. ones purchased in the UK jammed up when installing
So i purchased a set directly from the states once again jammed up on assembly
The problem i believe is the spacer ring as when this placed into the bore on its own the two ends butt up and physically jam, when i ground off a section all fitted correctly... even though some say this is OK to do, i chose not to.
I wrote to Hastings who initially replied they had sold hundreds of sets with no issue. they questioned my bore diameter.. even though compression rings & the scraper ring gaps are spot on.
They also said they would investigate... that was two months ago but have heard nothing

fireflake said:

Oh no, not rings again! Why do Hastings make 3 piece and 1 piece oil control rings and what's the consensus

Click to expand...

I fit Hastings rings with the 3 piece oil ring regularly.
I would not use a 1 piece oil ring on anything except a low speed motor.

Hastings have been making piston rings for a LOOOONG time. They were the rings of choice we used when building performance/competition motors. Only time we didn't use them is when a customer specifically stated he/she (yes, there were "she's") wanted some other brand, which we recommended against. As Jim stated, the three piece oil ring is the way to go. TBH, it's surprising that a Hastings set did not fit properly. As you noted, it is NOT correct to grind/cut some portion of the spacer ring. I apologize if this sounds insulting but we've all made errors: Did you double check to ensure you actually have +.020 pistons to go with the +.020 rings. A +.020 ring set won't work with anything other than a +.020 piston.

Are the pistons from a reputable manufacturer? I know you said the the top rings' gaps are OK but the acceptable range for them could still be "correct" with the wrong diameter ring or piston (though they wouldn't seal properly).

Again, I don't mean to be insulting but, as I said, any mech that says they have never made and discovered their error on such stuff hasn't worked on many engines!

olympus said:

I ended up not fitting +20 Hasting rings.. ones purchased in the UK jammed up when installing
So i purchased a set directly from the states once again jammed up on assembly
The problem i believe is the spacer ring as when this placed into the bore on its own the two ends butt up and physically jam, when i ground off a section all fitted correctly... even though some say this is OK to do, i chose not to.
I wrote to Hastings who initially replied they had sold hundreds of sets with no issue. they questioned my bore diameter.. even though compression rings & the scraper ring gaps are spot on.
They also said they would investigate... that was two months ago but have heard nothing

Click to expand...

I install Hastings rings exclusively. I've never had the problem you have. The spacer would need to be way oversized to "jam up" since it is a smaller OD than the rings. If it only happened once, I would guess that they put the wrong spacers in the package. There is a batch number on the package - if you still have both, you could check that - maybe both sets were from the same batch (makes no difference where you bought them).

I realize that it might be expensive, but if you call them they are very helpful - even though they don't sell directly to the public, they do directly support the public.

olympus said:

I ended up not fitting +20 Hasting rings.. ones purchased in the UK jammed up when installing
So i purchased a set directly from the states once again jammed up on assembly
The problem i believe is the spacer ring as when this placed into the bore on its own the two ends butt up and physically jam, when i ground off a section all fitted correctly.

Click to expand...

I think you should have returned to you supplier (who did you purchase them from) before you reached for the grinder!

I recently fitted +20 Emgo pistons and +20 Hastings Rings (3 piece oil rings) as part of my MkIII rebuild all went together without Issue.

The rings came directly from Hastings in the US, it was oil; control the spacer giving the issue & these were found to be oversize
I did email them with the issue Inc. some photos, other than a response of it must have been bored incorrectly no further response in two months has been received

olympus said:

The rings came directly from Hastings in the US, it was oil; control the spacer giving the issue & these were found to be oversize
I did email them with the issue Inc. some photos, other than a response of it must have been bored incorrectly no further response in two months has been received

Click to expand...

"ones purchased in the UK jammed up when installing"

Both sets did exactly the same, when the spacers alone were pushed into the bore (s) the spacer end touched & the spacers jammed in the bores
All compression rings & the oil scrappers gaps corrected 7 indeed caused no issues
If you search the forum, other people have had exactly the same problem, and ground down the spacers

I have the ring set still boxed so will follow up in the new year, TBO i didn't expect to have to wait this amour t of tine to get a response