“worn rings and worn cylinders” i really can’t tell if you’re messing with me now.
Messing with you? Please, please don't tell me you think the way your engine sits today is the way it was assembled!?
seems you all think my measurements are just wildly off, you can’t even consider the fact mass produced products can have defects?
Well let's see... you've already admitted to not know how to measure ring gap once. You've misreported ring groove clearances to us. You've stated the ring width to be ridiculously small, to the point that just a glance at a photo is enough to say confidently you're wrong. You've told us your bore is actually smaller than spec. You report measurements that should be taken at a minimum of 0.0001 in ranges of 0.01 and 0.001. You admit your tools are junk. You claim you're using a telescoping gauge and inside micrometer; for the life of me I can't figure out how you'd use those two together so that makes me think you can't even name the tools and mean to say outside micrometer. But given that even the absolute cheapest harbor freight mic set reads out in .0001 increments, I'm led to believe you're not using a micrometer at all but a caliper instead.
Distrust in your measurements and belief in manufacturing defects are not mutually exclusive.
all i’ve gotten in response to this is “you don’t know what you’re doing”. considering y’all are aerospace engineers and such, i might as well just throw away my certs and gauges.
genuine question, how are you any more qualified to use feelers than i am? i am certified, but apparently that means nothing. i am as confident in my skills as you are in yours.
First, if I'm not mistaken the FAA does not certify minors. There's a big difference between being a certified and experienced working aviation mechanic, and having a certificate of completion for some course. I have a friend that maintains Apaches, maybe I'll ask him to explain the process as admittedly I'm being ignorant. 2nd, In my trade (commercial/industrial HVAC) the guys that go to school for it invariably prove to be less than useless when they get out into the world. A lot of them attend the exact same schools that teach aviation technology. A few become competent after few years, a lot survive as incapable "sales techs", and some go back to cutting grass for a living.
Third, I told you days ago that I'm not an engine expert. But the difference between us (aside that I am now 37 and have been turning wrenches since I was half your age) is that you're approaching this with cocky arrogance, and I approach everything with caution, apprehension, and extreme attention to detail. Most of my machine building experience lies in large refrigeration compressors and small engines. Once you build something and get to watch it spin at 3600 rpm for 40,000 hours straight then you begin to earn a little confidence in your abilities. Until then, don't try to measure up to me (pun intended). Myself and many others here have had to hold your hand through every single little step of troubleshooting and tearing down your engine over the last couple months, and yet somehow we're not worthy of questioning the abilities of supreme Lord God Emperor Mechanik Withku? Why don't you go look back to when you were still chasing that puppy tail begging us to interpret compression tests for you, and see who was the one that said your ring lands were broken...
If you were just still asking for help and information it would be fine. It was inspiring to see a young guy so interested in doing all his own repairs. But this tangential obsession with trying to find something Ford did wrong so you can prove your mechanikal might just continues to demonstrate the opposite, and you're so clueless you can't even recognize it. It's nonproductive and annoying. And For that reason, I'm out.