how can you tell burnt rings?

[muh'stang]

Im putting my 302 together out of 2 engines, one from 1985 and one from 1992. My piston rings look good still, however i have some brand new ones.. How can you tell if theyre toast? they still have lots of "spring" to 'em

 

[crushnut]

Im putting my 302 together out of 2 engines, one from 1985 and one from 1992. My piston rings look good still, however i have some brand new ones.. How can you tell if theyre toast? they still have lots of "spring" to 'em

Its not worth it to mess with used rings when putting an engine back together, especially when you have a brand new set. Just my 2 cents, whatever its worth (probably not much)

 

[muh'stang]

thats what i figured, the existing rings seem very lively still, except now that I think about it the oil rings look pooched.

 

[Mr_siv]

if you pop the pistons out of the bores and don't replace the rings/re hone, you'll always be down on power and have a hard time starting... at least thats my experience.

- Jason