How Piston Rings Are Made - Total Seal Shop Tour

NHRA's Alan Reinhart takes you behind the scenes at Total Seal Piston Rings for an inside look at just how piston rings are made! From CNC coiling to aerospace coatings, modern piston rings utilize advanced materials to outperform "old school" rings. Thinner, Lighter, but Stronger, steel piston rings are the choice of Formula 1, NASCAR and NHRA teams. Plus, every Total Seal AP ring set is made its the USA!
For more about Total Seal and piston ring applications, check out www.TotalSeal.com
#howitsmade #pistonrings

[@Alan_Hans__]

Very nice. There's a lot more that goes on with the rings than I expected. I had no idea that square wire was a thing. I guess without that we wouldn't have slinkies ;)

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks for watching!

[@robertwest3093]

Thank for the shop tour! I never knew there were this many precision steps in making rings. Between this video and the one with Lake Speed Jr I have a newfound respect for what you guys do!

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@DavidHey-vd5wn]

I was an apprentice machine tool maintenance fitter in the early sixties in leeds uk with specialloid piston company and piston rings were machined from cast tube roughly machined internally and externaly then parted off from back with staggered parting off blades towards the headstock chuck then a whole other operations porobably alien to todays methods with todays highly advanced elecronicaly controlled machinery!

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@danielhertz7266]

Awesome video! All the right steps done with extreme attention to every detail. 👏🏽

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@kevind1865]

This is a great video with fantastic production value. Well done!

[@TotalSeal]

Thank you very much!

[@waynec369]

I knew it! I knew they weren't machined from solid stock! They had to be roll formed. Thanks for the validation! I know mechanical engineers with letters after their name who believe rings are machined from solid stock.

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks for watching!

[@bobqzzi]

This is great. I've always wondered how they did such precise machining. love to see a more in depth look at each process in future videos

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks

[@davidsimpkins8639]

More in depth. More machining of the part.

[@emillundberg8]

allways been a mahle fan but i will try total seal on my next build thx to this video

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@orionmachine9745]

No secret! Muskegon Piston Ring & SEALED POWER, Mass production and custom orders since 1901. Bought out and moved out of Michigan 1970's.Nice over view for those uninitiated. 👍

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks for watching!

[@landonthompson5604]

Definitely will be getting my business when I finally get my prosthetic leg 🦿 so I can walk again, I'm going to become a dirt track racer and one of the first to win my local track championship as a amputee.

[@TotalSeal]

Go get 'em!

[@bradrock7731]

Very interesting! Thank you for this. I must have installed hundreds of thousands,, when working at Fords Rouge engine plant back in the early seventies. I wonder if they still use a 'bump table' to install them by hand at the factory? Or if it's done by robot now? The oil rings were done completely by hand back then. ( Hard on fingers)

[@TotalSeal]

You're welcome!

[@johnvanderburgh4502]

fabulous attention to detail !

[@ashtechltd]

Thanks for this video! Amazing stuff guys.

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@darylcav6285]

That was very cool, I had no idea

[@johnnienitro6812]

WOW......Crazy good stuff......Thanks!

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@Airsally]

Very informative.....loved it

[@TotalSeal]

Glad you liked it

[@shaneshane1379]

God bless America! That's good stuff! 🇱🇷🏁😁

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@cabletie69]

valuable information. Thank you.

[@TotalSeal]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnvanderburgh4502]

thank you very much ! great video highly educational ;)

[@TotalSeal]

Thank you!

[@nigelturner9606]

Cracking video!

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@Comet-hn3gm]

Good stuff. I have been using them for many years.

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@JoopKomkommerShake]

Nice explained and presented.

[@TotalSeal]

Thank you!

[@notyouraveragegoldenpotato]

None of my old motor builds were standardized enough anymore to order 4 -8 rings directly to fit. I run ALOT of boost, 4 cars, big singles, big twins. Ive ALWAYS done it by hand, perfect to every cylinder (they may be a thou off from each other)

[@andrekemp5059]

Amazing Ring Zingers

[@MrTheHillfolk]

0:49 Yup they won't sell ya something that just fits,it works. I was told to send em my OEM rings for top gapless modification, since the OEM ring was such nice quality. Nice to do a minor upgrade to the wheel, not reinvent it.

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

I heard that the "Slinky" toy, that walks down stairs, was originally made for making piston rings. I don't know if that's true or not, but it certainly seems plausible.

[@TotalSeal]

That is absolutely true. A coil of un-cut oil ring rails is called a slinky!

[@gbipit1]

Awesome

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks!

[@rockpadstudios]

amazing

[@TotalSeal]

Glad you think so!

[@mick00000000002]

Piston ring with a key . That match to a position. Where they dont turn . Amd dont loss compression. Normal ring can match where oil and air goes buy. Blow buy. Patten done. Mick Australia

[@ranchhandmike]

I would like to know how you make the candy that used to come with your rings sets.

[@TotalSeal]

LOL!

[@brianb5779]

Question? With rings not needed to be seated anymore like the ole' days, does this apply to all the manufacturers or just total seal. I was surprised to hear this in the video since i figured they would still need seated w the bore somewhat.

[@TotalSeal]

Great question. While the rings don’t need to break-in, the cylinder walls still do, so there is some break-in that has to occur. We’ve just reduced the amount of break-in time and wear.

[@brianb5779]

@TotalSeal Thank you very much for the info and reply. I just did a leakdown on a new motor w maybe 50 miles on it and its at 12 percent so this lets me know hopefully itll get better. Unless of course it should have been seated by now.

[@tomintexas817]

85 toyota 4runner 22re totalseal rings

[@breoll86]

What's the typical turnaround time once you receive an order?

[@TotalSeal]

If the rings are in stock, it takes 1 or 2 days. If they have to be built from scratch 8 to 10 weeks.

[@TheJagjr4450]

The large bore size looks like the 1905 Cadiallac one cyclinder engine I helped my father in law rebuild. WOW

[@TotalSeal]

There’s all kinds of interesting things that come through the shop!

[@miketaylor6282]

Translation: This machine replaces 8 machine operators. 06:38

[@m.a.p.4hp737]

How long has Total Seal been making piston rings?

[@TotalSeal]

Since 1967. We've been making steel piston rings since 2002.

[@irish-simon]

fantastic video god I'd love that guy to do a shop tour of my shop

[@TotalSeal]

Alan is awesome!

[@carloslemos6919]

How are cast iron rings made? Do they start out their life as wire too?

[@TotalSeal]

Great question. Cast iron rings are poured in a foundry. They begin life as a cuff (looks like a piece of tubing) and then a cut down into a finished ring.

[@carloslemos6919]

@@TotalSeal Thank you guys! So nice to see the technical details 🙌

[@johnvanderburgh4502]

Total seal !

[@clip88th33]

What material is it made of?

[@TotalSeal]

The steel rings are made from stainless steel or tool steel depending upon the application.

[@clip88th33]

@@TotalSeal What type exactly? Thank you

[@anytractorman]

So do you make rings for a toyota 2afe engine?

[@TotalSeal]

Yes, contact us at 623-587-7400 or [e-mail]

[@robertmccully2792]

Dang,,

[@brianhoefer7148]

Fifty millionths .00005 or one half of one ten thousandth of an inch.

[@TotalSeal]

Yep!

[@sunroad7228]

"In any system of energy, Control is what consumes energy the most. Time taken in stocking energy to build an energy system, adding to it the time taken in building the system will always be longer than the entire useful lifetime of the system. No energy store holds enough energy to extract an amount of energy equal to the total energy it stores. No system of energy can deliver sum useful energy in excess of the total energy put into constructing it. This universal truth applies to all systems. Energy, like time, flows from past to future"(2017).

[@Bill-sp8kb]

😂😂

[@cobra7250]

Friction Although the friction force depends on the normal force, the second law of friction says that friction force does NOT depend on the area of contact between the object and the surface. Imagine if you turned a box so that less of it was touching the floor. Would that change the normal force? No! The box still weighs the same, so the normal force doesn't change, even if the area of contact does. I think this will interest you.

[@TotalSeal]

Agreed, but there is another variable in ring on liner friction that the law doesn't account for - fluid drag. Piston rings are not dry sliding. They are moving on a film of oil, so the ring face area does have an effect of drag (no different than frontal area in a wind tunnel). We also choose certain face coatings with a lower coefficient of friction, which lowers the friction force. By reducing the friction force and drag, we make piston rings that increase engine efficiency.

[@fabrisoto]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@TotalSeal]

Thanks

[@RIPSAWONE]

If you design a set of rings for a stock street driven car. Let's say and old fashion cast iron V8 with 4" pistons. When it warms up, the piston get a little bigger. Interestingly the cylinder also gets a little bigger. Stands to reason that the ring grows bigger on both the outer diameter and the inner diameter. A lot of people think the inner diameter gets smaller. I think they are wrong..?? We hear the suggestion for ring gap to be about .004 per inch of cylinder. So a 4.000 stock ring should be about .020 gap. Why would .008 not be good enough if everything grows outward?

[@TotalSeal]

The bore, the pistons and the rings don’t all expand equally, so that is why the guidance is listed the way it is.

[@fuckingpippaman]

its linear expansion* A linear expansion on a cylinder is outwards because its the only way to go. On a ring its lenghtwise on the circumference so the gap closes off.

[@ahsanbaloch3265]

38cr

[@Thecollector901]

How do I connect with you guys

[@TotalSeal]

Call 623-587-7400

[@tommooe4524]

You still didn’t show how to coil the ring

[@ruben_balea]

At 1:33 look all the way back to see new rings being coiled. It's the same way some springs are coiled, search for video "CNC AIM 4000" to see an example.

[@mohanperformance.enginerd.1308]

Very informative. But still we dont know how a ring is made.

[@TotalSeal]

The section showing the coiler is how the ring is coiled. Every step shown is part of the process of making the ring. Each step is the process.

[@brazilnut8898]

You skipped the important parts... you showed us the finishing treatments but not how piston rings are made

[@TotalSeal]

The section showing the coiler is how the ring is coiled. Every step shown is part of the process of making the ring. Each step is the process.

[@larryperry2094]

Good video.

[@TotalSeal]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@lowprofilepersonwithbigbra669]

u talk to much old man, just straight to the point

[@user-jq6lg2zm3m]

อะไรของมึง ไม่เห็นขั้นตอนการทำแหวนเลย กล้องถ่ายแต่หน้าคน มึงหล่อมากรึไง?.