basic engine building question

I am working on building my Allis B engine. I've assembled engines before, but that was in high school.

Do I used assembly lube on the piston rings and cylinder walls? I can't remember if they should be dry or not.

Also, my gasket kit includes a cork seal for the flywheel end of the crankshaft. I've never worked with one of these before. Should it be soaked in oil before assembly or should it just get a light film like a rubber seal would?

Thanks for the help.

oil the cylinder walls before installing the pistons

I second the vote for engine oil on the cylinder walls.

As to your seal, I've never dealt with a cork seal before but here's what I'm thinking. You really don't want it to burn up so more oil is probably better than less. However I don't believe cork is oil permeable so I think a decent coating would suffice and maybe some assembly lube where it actually runs on the crank. I know that with the felt and other fibre seals I've dealt with before they want soaking in oil.

Hope that helped, Sam

I always oiled the cylinder walls and the pistons.
Use clean engine oil. A new sash brush works well to coat the surfaces. Hal

Can't say for sure one way or the other but I know cork soaks up water as we used to have to do that before putting in a rocker cover gasket to get it to flex so I would think it would soak in oil as well and if dry I think it would crack before you got it in place and soaking in oil would prevent that.

Before I put on the ring compressor, I dunk the whole piston head upsidedown in a container of engine oil.

Pull it out, shake off the excess, squeeze the rings and drop 'er in the hole.

Allan

Before you stick the piston in the cylinder make sure you stagger your ring gap so all the openings of the rings are not all lined up.

Yes but not assembly lube or synthetic oil.Just the normal mineral oil you will run in the motor.This is just my opinion some do it dry thinking it will aid the rings seating faster.I like oil .

I was always told to soak those cork seals in a
clean container of oil for an hour or two, BUT
you might want to check for a steel shell rubber
oil seal. I know that the cork ones come in the
kit, but automotive engines haven"t used them
for years, and there may be something better
available. I rebuild Wisconsin 2 cyl engines
and the gasket kits always have a cork seal, but
upon doing a late model, I found a newer oil
seal, and found it fit all 2 cyl engines. I am
now buying that modern seal from a bearing and
seal supply house and having much success using it
Older Wisconsins always have an oil streak on
them from where the soft cork seak leaked. A new
steel shell-rubber seal doesn"t leak. I always
install a speedi-sleave if the shaft has a groove
worn it it from abrasion of dirty leaking oil
and dust. It lets the seal run on a new smooth
surface, and is worth the money, and no recalls!
Finally, at tech school, (in the 60s) when
installing pistons, we put the rings on, dipped
them in a clean coffee can of engine oil, let
them drip off, then put on the ring compresser,
and installed the piston. We put engine assembly
LUBRI-PLATE,(in the tube, still available from
NAPA)on the bearing shells and the crankshaft,
before bolting and torqueing the rods

Use oil on the rings and cylinder wall.Whatever oil you are going to use in the motor.
Never worked on one of those motors but if you took a cork main seal out then its probably alright. Soaking the cork in oil sounds like the right thing to do.Most motors any more have a rubber seal to replace the old rope seal.Its probably a good idea to ask if there is a rubber seal for your motor.

I do the same; oil in cylinder,oil on the rings, check stagger of rings, put ring squeezer on, and install pistons into bore. Making sure squeezer is in full contact with block slight pressure on squeezer ant tap gently. ALL!! other moving parts get the assembly lube

I remembered that the piston should be lubed in something and assembly lube didn't seem right. I'll be using the same 30wt that I will run in the engine.

The original crank shaft seal I believe to be leather... there wasn't much left of it. A metal case seal would not work without modifying the housing. The seal sits in a groove with metal on both sides. I'm not feeling ambitious enough to second guess the quality of the cork and find an alternative. So I guess I'll try soaking it in oil and coating the shaft with some more assembly lube.

Thanks for the quick replies.

for piston and rings I found oil works ok and stp works ok but a 50-50 mix of oil and stp works a lot better. This is from my experience rebuilding 855 cu inch cummins diesel engines. This time of year I would have the oil & stp warmed up to room temp. I would have liquid in large tin can and put piston & ring assembly into can to lube it.

Ever heard of or dealt with Pittsburg Power and their Big Cam builds. Supposedly you can take pretty much any 855 and for the same money as a rebuild to original horsepower send them to 500. Or for a bit more money go to 700 horse.

DIRT = #1 enemy.

I do the same method as Allen.