Dumb Question Of The Day

Max1196 said
Is because, You haven't seen yet what can go wrong with a common retainer, used in an abusive environment. Spirolox won't break or fall out, a regular offering can cause a worn slot/trough gouge in the cylinder wall when it fails. Correct orientation of the end gap of a common retainer can prove to be verry beneficial. Never put the end gap of a regular clip at or near the 3 'o'clock or 9 o'clock placement. Centripetal force factors come in to play. They will fatigue if so. 340's (high revers) and 390 fords (turds) are usual culprits of this type of failure. Pics include the 1 type that can fail/ break and the type that can fall out, (pic to follow when I find it).

in common 2T parlance: coughing a clip and wasting the barrel

i was taught open ends to the deck and never re-use clips.

generally stock use the circlip so, we're talking sub 7K ish rpm, most aftermarket use some type of wire clip: C, G, or double loop. and something a lot of people mess up is substituting clips thinking "if it fits, it's good enough" when in reality the trough in the piston is machined differently for different clips-- specifically c-clips v wire clips.