Solid skirt or split skirt

[Graham.Goral]

Hi,

If I've a choice of buying pistons for a very early VB, between solid skirt with no oil ring and split skirt with oil ring. Which is preferable?

I'm inclined to think the later design split skirt one would be better but would appreciate opinions either way. I'm not sure if there's a significant weight difference which would affect the crank balance.

Cheers
Graham

[nevhunter]

The split skirt is OK in the VB as the rod is quite long and the engine is not used for racing. They can be run with a bit less skirt clearance with the slot. Ariel singles did not use an oil ring till 1947 when the higher volume pumps were fitted. If you fit it to the smaller pump engine do not use a very "fierce" oil ring. Just use an old fashioned low wall pressure cast iron oil ring, with the split to the FRONT of the piston. nev