Probe piston rings no more?

[Zrain25]

Ordered a set of probe .20 over for my 7m build about 6 months ago I'm about ready to send all my parts to the machine shot for them to put the long block together and I'm looking for the rings and NPR doesn't make rings anymore

Ring Set #14490-STD - SWL02311-0
14490-.50 - SWL02311-2
14490-1.0 - SWL02311-4

I need the 14490-50 that's the .20 over and I can't find that ring set anywhere. I even called Arron at dm and he said he dosent know if he can get any more

But I found this Hasting piston rings had a cross reference page and I found this under the NPR section SWL02311 - 2C4749

So I'm guessing I can order the hasting rings they have the same ring gap just have to order them in .20 over

 

[supraguy@aol]

I hope you're right, because I was planning to refresh my backup block, and it has Probe's in .020 over.

 

[Zrain25]

We will find out soon Hastings is good stuff

 

[IJ.]

More than likely they were just reboxed Hastings anyway...

 

[Zrain25]

Ya probably they were around the same price too 70 bucks for a 4cyl kit so we would need 2 kits

 

[mk3racer]

Good to know the status of probe piston rings. Before you drop Probe pistons into the block, check out my postings on grinding down the valve relief edges on the crown. If you already are aware of that step then you're good to go.


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[Zrain25]

How did u grind those down?

 

[mk3racer]

Using a Dremel tool. Can send pics in needed, but if you search the forum you'll find info on that. The valve relief leave very thin edges on the crown that can melt if you boost near 20psi.


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[mk3racer]

Search "pictures of my rebuild in summer 2009" and you find pictures of Probe pistons with grinding of valve relief edges.


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[supraguy@aol]

For what its worth, i think Probes are a great value in the piston market. People assign false 'max hp' numbers to the probes, yet they are made of the same forged alloy as many of the other high end pistons. Yes, the valve reliefs need to be addressed. But that is literally 15 minutes work with a dremel. Probe made the reliefs oversized in case people wanted to increase the size of their valves. I ran probes for 7 years, tore down the engine, and they look brand new.

 

[mk3racer]

I agree. No problems with them 5 years dd on 15psi plus multiple HPDE events. For the money, they do a pretty good job.


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[Angry7M]

OP did you ever get an answer back? Or what did you end up using?