Piston Rings and Bearings Recommendation
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Mar 2026
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Piston Rings and Bearings Recommendation
I'm looking to freshen up a 302 out of a 90s Mustang. I'm gonna have the block cleaned and honed by a shop to see what I have to work with or will need. Or I dingle ball hone it at home. I wanna re-ring and replace the bearings. It'll only see street and off road use. No boost or NO2 will be seen. What's the best bearings and rings. I don't have a ring filer but willing to buy one. Gonna use the original pistons.
Last edited by Bronco912; Mar 8, 2026 at 05:27 PM.
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2015
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mic them?
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
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You definitely need to get the engine torn down and see what you've got to work with. Check the piston skirts very carefully for cracks if you're thinking about using them because some stock pistons were bad about that. Measure the skirts to make sure there are no collapsed pistons. Also measure the bores and see what size they actually are. Many times I've seen a 5.0 block that isn't 4in but a different size like 4.004 or so. What this means is that if you have to change the pistons you also have to bore the block because a STD piston will end up with too much clearance.
As far as bearings go. I personally like the King SI series a lot. For rings, Mahle, Hastings, Sealed Power etc are all fine.
As far as bearings go. I personally like the King SI series a lot. For rings, Mahle, Hastings, Sealed Power etc are all fine.
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2007
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I would agree with just going the proper rebuild [bore resize] but the term 'little more money' is not the words I would use. My machine shop build was not cheap to prep my block. I can't say exactly what the final cost of the machine shop bill, but it was well over $3k.
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