been thinking i need a piston stop but it kinda looks like you could easily fuck up a piston crown with one.so who here has wished they did the rope trick instead?
piston stop or rope?
Re: piston stop or rope?
use a rope that will barely fit in the sparkplug whole, and something thats real squishy, no frayed ends. youll get it hung up on the ports or rings if you have too little diameter rope. ive heard of crazy shit like bent con rods, shattered pistons from piston stops.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I use a plastic tipped piston stop and have never had trouble. I have not had good luck with rope. Last time I used it, the rope got squeezed and got stuck in the piston ring. Maybe I was not using thick enough rope, but I like piston stops.
Re: piston stop or rope?
dont forget certain things can be done with a strap wrench instead, like flywheel removal.
Re: piston stop or rope?
At pittsburgh Chad Burke had some really nice nylon-tipped piston stops, so maybe check quarterkick. I've always used rope with no problem, though
Re: piston stop or rope?
i've used rope a few times. And i hate it. Very much so. Yes it gets caught.
Especially if you are taking off your clutch (repeatedly). Why spend all that time screwing around with your top end trying to lock it in place just to remove one nut on the clutch.
It's worth it, buy it with your next set of tires or whatever.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I like the rope trick. I have used a lot of things like a shoe string, cotton rope, or whatever I can find and never had a problem.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I have a piece of bungee cord that works really well.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I use a length of vacuum hose. But really, if you're bending rods and shattering pistons, you must be using an impact or something.
Re: piston stop or rope?
Before I knew the rope trick I would position the piston above the exhaust port, fill the cylinder with oil and screw the spark plug in. I like the rubber hose and bungee ideas
Re: piston stop or rope?
yeah, the bungee coils itself around the cylinder and if its fat you only need a few inches, plus its nice and squishy.
Re: piston stop or rope?
Chain vice grips work well.
But with an impact gun, you shouldn't need anything to stop the piston. Works queeeek.
Re: piston stop or rope?
a cordless impact is the single greatest tool in moped repair.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I just used some yellow rope today to get in there. It worked like a charm.
Re: piston stop or rope?
Rob I would tend to agree with you.
But, Plug wrench wins.
Re: piston stop or rope?
nasty.. metal piston stops work fine.. aslong as you set the piston on the stop before you do any wrenching.. my piston crown has shown no wear from the stop... and i have used it at least 50+ times on a new gila kit..
Re: piston stop or rope?
rope!
Re: piston stop or rope?
Rope......Unless you have a chain wrench. It works awesome on the flywheel. Zero pressure on the piston or the crank. $8 at harbor freight. Priceless in the garage.
Re: piston stop or rope?
1/4" nylon multi braided rope has worked for me every time. I position the piston up far enough to clear the ports and stuff it in. For flywheel nuts that are high torque, I wouldn't want to stress the piston in such a concentrated spot. Aluminum is brittle and it can stress crack.
Re: piston stop or rope?
if they were all that bad for your piston i dont think Crane Cams would make them and i doubt Summit would sell them
Re: piston stop or rope?
Impact wrench no stop if you can avoid it. A stop will destroy needle piston pin bearings piston, pin connecting rod and much more if you have to crank Hard on clutch on flywheel. I use a stop only if need in a emergency
Re: piston stop or rope?
i fucking hate using rope.
piston stop FTW, easily one of the best purchases ive ever made, but yeah i'd probably prefer a rubber tip, metal on metal always bothers me a little.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I would go with the stop, just don't over torque anything, they are designed for some degree of force being applied.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I am usually tearing down bikes that have sat for decades that are rusty and corroded. Sometimes stopping the piston is not the issue, getting it unstopped is.
Re: piston stop or rope?
I tend to use rope more, but it has gotten hung up on the ports before. If you're using nylon rope melt the ends so they aren't frayed.
The piston stop I have is a PITA to thread into the hole for some reason.
Re: piston stop or rope?
if it will stop the piston from moving in a $10,000 racing engine it will work just fine in a moped
on a jawa you cant use a stop cause of the angled plug it will just rip the threads out
Re: piston stop or rope?
Anything BUT an impact is either ghetto stupid or desparate (field repairs).
Re: piston stop or rope?
Only use rope with morini and sachs or any other enging with an angled plug
Re: piston stop or rope?
aaron you dont have a socket for that? maybe for on the go, the multi tool plug wrench- the impact is directly proportional to less time wrenching/ more time riding.
Re: piston stop or rope?
impacts are also great for stripping threads too
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