Sleeve Pinching
 

I have read a few threads where sleeve pinching is mentioned but no true meat and potatoes regarding the subject. How effective is "pinching" and does the engine respond like a new engine? Will I have to go through the break-in process again and where is the best place to send the piston and sleeve for pinching?

Thanks,

why not just buy a new piston & sleeve?

I can do that. However, I am more interested in knowing more about sleeve pinching and its effectiveness. Any responses to that end is appreciated.

ive had many of them done and only had one that was to tight yes a u will need to break in as needed. and it saves money untill its really needed i used os rocket out of ohio.

That's what I'm talking about!! Thanks. What's the turn around time like?

I have used rayaracing before. After the pinch and break-in, a completely worn-out piston/sleeve got me through an entire season. Performance was good. So yes, it's a good way to extend the life of your engine and save some money.

Yeah, I will be sending mine out tomorrow. I checked out OS Rocket's site, and that seem like a good place. I will look into Rayaracing and decide between the two. Thanks for the feed-back.

I have done a lot .21 engines and was payed with just a hamburger on the track :D and all were very satisfied

Roelof:

How are you my man? I was hoping you would comment on this issue. I think I will send the piston and sleeve out tomorrow. However, I would like to be able to do my own sleeves. Any idea where I can buy the equipment to start doing my own? Thanks for the reply.

You have to replace the matter than has worn away if you dont, once the pinch warms up and expands against the block, I'd expect you to be low on compression and expect it may be hard to tune .

PS: I could be wrong.

I don't quite understand what you are saying. Can you explain it as if you are talking to a 5 year old. I think I will get it then.

As I said I could be wrong and many prove that it works. To answer you, what I mean is an engine loses compression because the piston and liner wear away. Once that material is gone, it's gone!

Actually, I think you "are" wrong. The purpose of pinching the sleeve is to re-gain compression/tighten the sleeve as if is new, or better, to start the process of "fresh motor" over. Thanks for your comment though.

Surely the hard chromed liner wears much slower than the comparitively soft aluminium piston. Does just replacing the piston after a while help?

They must be available.....

Problem with our kind of engines is that the piston and sleeve have matching materials regarding the expansion. Materials can change due different suppliers so there is a chance that the piston of one production serie does not match the sleeve of other. Beside that due tolerances the dimensions aren't equal, they can differ up to some microns so you must have several pistons try to match your sleeve in size. To prevent that they just deliver a compleete matching P/S set.

Would there not be a space between the head and the liner after pinching?
Not trying to create an argumentative debate, as in "theory" it shouldn't work. If the liner is malleable enough to pinch it should be malleable enough to expand and deform back into the pinch cavity against the block. But.. As many in the real world say, it works, so I am genuinely interested in what people have experienced.

I had this done once, and it did work well in order to extend the lifetime of the engine. The pinched set probably did not last as long as a new set. I'm not a top-level driver, but I found the performance to be good -- I did not notice a loss of power compared to when it was still new. If you're trying to win the nationals, your may have a different opinion.

Hence, for most racers, a great way to extend the lifetime of your engine without breaking the bank.

Indeed, you would say when pinching you do create space between sleeve and crankcase which can be filled up by expansion. But the expansion is not determed by the amount of space but only by the specification of the material.

Pinching is actually deforming the material by squeezing it together to a smaller diameter but the expansion rate will be the same.

Yes, there is a kind of memory that the material wants to go back to the original shape, when doing a small pinch just as much that the piston fits right can be easily pushed back. You must see it as a piece of piano wire, you can bend it a bit and it will return to its original shape. Bending it further there comes a moment it will stay on an angle but again you did have to bend it further to get this mall angle as end result and in use there is a chance that it will go back a tiny bit to the original shape.

With pinching you can see that, With a tight pinch some sleeves do not need a long running in to get rid of the tight pinch. That spring effect together with the force of the piston is shaping back the sleeve a bit.

It seems the harder the sleeve the less spring effect there is.

I like the piano wire analogy :) tls Roelof

I have been pinching motors for a few years. Yes pinching would leave more of a gap between the sleeve and block. The sleeve is strong enough to hold its size without the block's support. I believe some engine manufacturers leave a slight gap on purpose so that when a motor gets hot it doesn't loose all it's pinch. That is why some motors can get over 300 deg and still keep good compression. Pinching is not just a band aid, most motors I have done hold there pinch as long as a new piston and sleeve did, without going through the hassle of a long break in. (I recommend 2 tanks with a re-pinch I have done)
I only charge $15.00 return shipping included, $38 if you send the whole motor. (Usa only for those prices)
www.rw-mods.com

Rex

OS Rocket:nod::nod::nod::nod::nod::nod:


Pass you soon...

I had a worn out OS V-spec II pinched and it is still running strong. An inexpensive way to revive an otherwise dead motor.

How is pinching done?

The name pinching sounds a little crude, resizing just sounds better. There are different way to do it but only 2 people I know of that actually sell equipment to do this and it can cost over $1000.00 to buy equipment.
The same result is attained no matter who does it, of course some do a better more accurate job than others. The sleeve is squeezed smaller at the top to create metal pinch like when it was new. I do not pinch the sleeves nearly as tight as new as the piston and sleeve are already mated to each other. There are a couple people (myself included) that you can send the whole engine to and have the crank and rod measured, inspected and check the bearings etc. If the crank is worn it can get quite expensive to replace the crank, rod etc. and may not be worth rebuilding depending on the brand.

Rex

Cool that's worth knowing, I've only ever had second hand engines which I've picked up cheap (Apart from my N12-3T).. I've found this is a cheaper way to race than rebuilding.

I've an old Orion CRF Wasp .12 which is absolutely ballistic! which is backup to my IDM Evo 4 .12, which i'm still to actually try out!

If I'd dropped the cash on a Keep-On I'd make sure I rebuilt it or pinched it when it was dead, but not worth it when you're buying engines for £60.

Hmmm... I did not get any complains about the work with my 70 dollar tool....
Sometimes I have the feeling people on these forums are telling everything to keep the job at the right people.