To lube or not to lube?

I am about to start putting my Cad motor together and my mate and I have been talking about wether the bores and rings /pistons should be lubed with oil or just lightly wet so to speak with smear of atf or something lightweight?
In the past he as I have heavily oiled up everything then assembled it.I am only refering to the bore area as the rest(bottom end/cam and the likes will get the normal treatment.
I only ask as a few motors built lately seemed to of glazed up straight away and it seems the rings have'nt bed in,wether it's due to ring materials or the new oils being to efficent?or being to easy on the revs after initial startup.
Any opinions on this?Or should I say what are your opinions on this?

 

When installing pistons into the bore I have always liberally oilked the bore surface and the piston and rings. Some of that is going to run off while the engine sets, but some oil is certainly better than insufficient lubrication on start up.

The manufacturer of the rings may have some recommendations about what type/grade/weight of oil to use for break-in. However, that also needs to be compatible with the cam and lifter break-in as well.

And, of course, pre-lubing by running the oil pump with a drill motor is always a good thing.

Ray

 

If the motor will not be started right away, I like to mix STP 50/50 with 30 WT. oil for the cling factor. Stir it up good.

 

I like to use the exact same oil that I plan on running in the engine to lube the cylinder and rings during assembly. With a flat tappet cam, I use some of the break in oil.

 

This is what my stock car racing buddy suggests as well....he uses it throughout as assembly lube, and the camshaft goo on the cam and lifters.

 

The "BEST" thing to do...is call the (parent) company (not the store) you bought the rings from...and ask them..!

Total Seal, they like to oil the skirt of the piston, and the cylinder, but just use a "light" oil or WD-40 on the rings.
Got that straight from them..
This has worked well on several engines I've put together.

Mike

 

I always use 30wt. motor oil, and nothing else, but liberally on cylinder walls, pistons, and rings. I had one ugly experience with STP and engine assembly probably 40 years ago. I was putting the 283 together in my '55 Chevy gasser and using STP on the mains and rods for extra protection. As I assembled each piston/rod assembly. to the crank it got a little tougher to turn over. After getting about halfway through assembly I could barely trun it over with my breaker bar. I had to stop and take it all apart and start over with motor oil, and it went together just great after that. Can't imagine what it would have been like if I'd done the pistons and rings too, even with 50/50 mix.

 

what make and model of rings?
What is the cylinder bore finish, and how do you clean it for assembly?

 

Current state of the art practice is to install rings with only a light oil film at most.

STP and WD40 are not very good lubricants. Chassis grease and "regular" Lubriplate are not good options either. Motor oil was designed for the job so it's a good choice. There are specialty assy lubes that are ok too.