Taken from Total Seal's website:
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]QUESTION: [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Do Total Seal rings require special cylinder honing? [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ANSWER: [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]No, Total Seal rings do not require special cylinder honing. But they like all piston rings do require proper cylinder honing. One of the most common causes of ring sealing issues today is improper cylinder honing. It’s not uncommon to see engine blocks and cylinder sleeves ranging in hardness from approximately 150 to over 300 on the brinell scale. Yet it is very common to see these all of these being honed using the exact same process. The end results vary dramatically. These results are measured with a tool known as a surface roughness tester. The results are measured as Ra, Rz, Rpk, Rk, and Rvk and vary depending on the specific application. Basically these numbers are telling us to how rough the cylinder is and how well it can retain oil. An overly rough cylinder will prematurely wear the rings while an overly smooth cylinder may never seat the rings and can lead to cylinder burnishing. Cross hatch angles can also vary depending on the application, These angles determine the critical ring rotation speed, generally a 45 cross hatch angle will do a very good job. Though some O.E. applications do vary from this, if your not sure check before you proceed. To steep of a cross hatch angle can cause the rings to pump oil, rotate to quickly leading to accelerated ring and ring groove wear. To flat of a angle can cause a chattering affect as the ring passes over the valley preventing the ring from receiving proper lubrication again leading to excessive ring wear.[/FONT]