Piston rings are the gatekeepers in the combustion process, tasked with making sure nothing gets around the piston. If the rings don’t seat properly, you’re going to miss out on horsepower and have a host of other issues. Total Seal’s Quick Seat is a great lubricant to use when assembling an engine to ensure the piston rings achieve the best possible seal with the cylinder bore.

Conventional oil is used by many people who assemble their own engines as a lubricant for a fresh build. Quick Seat is a dry film lubricant that can be looked at as a graphite powder, but it’s not graphite at all. Total Seal engineered Quick Seat as a blend of compounds that keep scuffing and welding during an engine’s assembly and initial start-up to a minimum. The prevention of any scuffing or scoring of the piston ring and cylinder wall allows for a better fit.

Lake Speed Jr. from Total Seal provides some insight as to why you want to use Quick Seat when assembling an engine.

“Oil requires velocity to form an oil film. Think about a water skier: the boat needs to be moving for the skier to be riding on the water. The same goes for your piston rings and oil. The piston needs to be moving quickly for the rings to ride on a film of oil. Well, that does not happen during engine assembly and at initial start-up. That’s where Quick Seat comes in — as a dry film lubricant, velocity is not needed to provide protection. Quick Seat provides a boundary film that prevents scuffing during this critical time.”

Another great feature of Quick Seat is that it also acts as an indicator powder for your cylinder walls. When you apply Quick Seat to a bore and it’s gray, that means the cylinder is still dirty. When a cylinder is totally clean Quick Seat will turn the cylinder green, so if you see green you know you’re ready for assembly.