Total Seal Gas Ported Piston Rings: Better Sealing Means More Horsepower

Gas porting pistons to improve top ring sealing has been around at least since the 1970s. Drilling holes (ports) in the piston allows gas pressure above the piston to get behind the top piston ring, which helps seal the ring against the ring groove and cylinder wall.

What is new are Total Seal’s Gas Ported Piston Rings. Designed for use with standard, unported pistons, the top rings have slots cut into them, allowing gas pressure into the ring groove to exert outward and downward force on the ring itself. That extra force stabilizes the ring, increasing ring seal to reduce blowby and improve horsepower production.

To see how its gas ported rings stacked up against gas ported pistons, Total Seal had Shaver Specialties Engines do dyno tests on a 383 cubic inch small block Chevy. With gas ported pistons and standard rings, the engine made 451.7 peak horsepower. With Total Seal’s rings and standard pistons, peak horsepower jumped to 456.3. The moral of the story? An engine with regular pistons with Total Seal gas ported rings can make more power than the same engine with gas ported pistons—and for less money.

The Total Seal Gas Ported Piston Rings come with gapless, moly-coated iron top rings, ductile iron secondary rings, and stainless steel oil control rings. They’re available in various thicknesses for V8 engines.

SEE TOTAL SEAL’S GAS PORTED PISTON RINGS AT SUMMIT RACING