Installing pistons/rings, into cylinders

Regular oil is fine, weight does not matter. You want the rings to seat both on piston and in cylinders, so abrasive is good.. Which means no Moly or any other slippery stuff in the cylinders, will take forever to seat/seal, if unlucky the cylinders will glaze before you even get there.

When starting the engine the first time, only do so very briefly before actually driving the car. To seat the rings take off immediately accelerate to one thirds throttle and back off abruptly as in engine brake. Repeat three times. Next do the same with half throttle also three times, then full wack also three times. Best done in second or third gear to get the needed load.

After this is done you can do the regular nurse/break in procedure. If you find this hard to believe on a fresh rebuild, do some Google time, it is documented with pictures and all, goes for all piston driven engines.

J.

When I do this step I first clean and dry the inside of the cylinder with some solvent(brake cleaner for me usually) and a clean paper towel. If the paper towel comes out clean after the solvent is used, then I apply some oil to the cylinder, coat the walls with a thin even coat all the way around, top to bottom. I usually put a little oil on the piston skirt as well, but I don't do much with the rings aside from making sure the gaps are properly positioned.

Do you have Tom Wilson's "How to rebuild your aircooled VW" book? It's not exaclty a type IV book, but the basic procedures/concepts have worked quite well for me over the years. It's a good read if you don't have it already.

Chris