Piston/Cylinder Mock-up Tips?

[misszora]

So I'm at the point where I want to do a mock-up of the piston & cylinder barrel on the case to determine the deck height. Here's the issue I'm facing...I don't want to ding up or mar the gorgeous surface of the new barrel. I don't have socket extensions that fit over the threads of the cylinder studs. I have a variety of washers and nuts and a couple of shorter sockets but everything is going to cut in the surface.

For those of you who have done this, what have you used to accomplish this?

thanks!
-Paige

[hambone]

2. metal tubing cut to size
3. a suitably sized socket

[dtrumbo]

I used deep sockets (of which you already said you don't have) and washers. Use what you've got and remember, you cannot see the area you've cosmetically marred once the head is installed. You do want to exert enough force to make sure the cylinder is gud 'n' tight against the case so your measurements are as accurate as possible.

This little gem makes taking the measurements a breeze.

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-dig ... 47257.html

[misszora]

I wasn't concerned about the aesthetics, more concerned with keeping the connecting surfaces as tight as possible. I'm hitting up the hardware store after parking ticket court today. Had to take off my boots, glasses & hair clips just to get into the place. Sheesh!

[Oregon72]

little blocks of wood can get the job done with no damage to mating surfaces. A straight edge and feeler blades can give you a pretty accurate deck ht. measurement. Please note these photos show a shimless deck. I had to use base shims (between case and barrell) to get my deck to a sufficient measurement.

Hope this helps.

[vdubyah73]

if you're concerned about cylinder to head sealing surfaces, lap the cylinder barrels to the heads. use readily available valve lapping/grinding compound. paint some onto the sealing surface of the cylinder. i lapped cylinders on a piece of round plate glass from a patio end table, found at local dump. just hold it flat and spin it. next place cylinder in head and with your hands just spin the cylinder round and round while bearing down on it. cyinders should be assembled in the same head hole they were lapped into, and the compound should be thoroughly cleaned. can be done anytime before final assembly. won't change deck height enough to matter. just clean up good after.


edit never mind, i see that lapping is already in your plans.

[misszora]

I like the wood blocks but lack the tools to drill the holes right now...heading to the hardware store now to take care of that then on to find wood. (insert joke here)

Lapping will be done today.