[Fot] [Spits] County Pistons Quality Control Issue

[Glenn Franco]

The new defective TR6 set I just installed are made in Taiwan.
I just looked in my collection of NOS ones and I have 4 new .020" Spit 
County Pistons and those appear to be made in the UK but they are likely 
10-15 yrs old or better.
Glenn

On 1/11/2013 5:19 PM, Body Wagner wrote:
> Where are AE pistons made?
>
> Boyd C Wagner
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jan 11, 2013, at 5:01 PM, Glenn Franco <gaf3 at charter.net> wrote:
>
>> Yes the County Rockers are made in India.
>> They usually have better quality control than most.
>>
>> On 1/11/2013 4:33 PM, Doug Braun wrote:
>>> Another horror story:
>>>
>>> A while back I replaced my Spit's rocker arm shaft with the part that
>>> most vendors sold.  I believe it was "County"
>>> branded, and it was made in India.  I went to adjust the valves a few
>>> days later, and I noticed that the front four rocker arms
>>> seemed rather oil-starved.  When I ran the engine with the rocker arm
>>> cover off, I could see that only the rear four rocker
>>> arms were getting lubricated.
>>> It turned out that the shaft was not completely hollow:  They had
>>> rifle-drilled it inwards from each end, but they did not drill
>>> deep enough, and the two holes did not meet up in the center.
>>>
>>> Doug
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 4:14 PM, Glenn Franco <gaf3 at charter.net
>>> <mailto:gaf3 at charter.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     FYI
>>>     I am in the midst of a TR6 Rebuild with an engine that is .020"
>>>     overbored.
>>>     While fitting up the pistons and checking clearances everything
>>>     checked out and the bore was concentric and to specs.
>>>     With the piston installed in the bore I noticed increased drag
>>>     with #1 piston installed.
>>>     With rings gaps, skirt clearance correct I pulled the piston and
>>>     didn't see any  issues.
>>>     Further inspection showed that the piston was cocked in the bore
>>>     and had score marks on the bottom of one skirt with the same wear
>>>     just below the oil ring on the other side.
>>>     After inspecting it with the machine shop we noticed that the ring
>>>     grooves were not fully machined on one side of the piston.
>>>     The rings would not move far enough in the groove and was proud of
>>>     the surface causing the piston to cock in the bore.
>>>     We collectively have not seen this before and have a new set of AE
>>>     pistons not County on the way.
>>>
>>>     Having spent many years in Automotive Engineering at one of the
>>>     former Big Three, these events are usually not one of's.
>>>     There likely are many more out there that ran down the line in the
>>>     same batch at the same time before it was caught.
>>>
>>>     These are new County Piston sets (I think made in Israel now).
>>>     I would inspect their parts very closely before you install them.
>>>
>>>     I also noticed machine chips in the machined groove of their
>>>     Tri-Metal Main Bearings (Israel).
>>>     The chips were in the machined groove and were plated over with
>>>     the babbit and copper.
>>>
>>>     I have had very good experiences with their parts in the past.
>>>     Just thought I would provide a heads up.
>>>
>>>     Glenn
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