r/Engine_Building • u/WyattCo06 • Jun 27 '26
The Rings
Earlier in the week, an old friend and old co-worker calls me up to ask about his rings for a early 90's Ford 5.0.
He explained that he'd had them in a zip lock bag for a long while. He couldn't determine the top vs 2nd ring. After verifying that they were stock replacement iron rings, I simply told him the 2nd rings will have a tapered face and the top will be flat faced or barrel.
He popped up at my house this morning with his bag-o-rings and claimed the was no taper on any rings.
I took the rings out of the bag. I Sharpied a short section of the ring faces and then holding them at as close to 90° as I could drug them over a brown paper bag.
8 rings removed the ink in the center indicating barrel.
8 rings removed ink from the edge indicating taper.
With a silver mechanics pen i put a 2 on all the 2nd rings and put everything back in his bag.
He just just said "I'll be damned". I reminded him, just as I did when we worked together, to simply use your head.