1958 r26 restoration

[Lpalfa]

I have decided to restore an r26 this year that I found in rough shape locally and need some help. I did an r60/6 last year which I ride daily. I will have al lot of questions in the next few months so here is the first ones. I am tearing down the engine and want to replace the piston rings. The one I have has four rings but the only ones available from Bmw are sets of three. Was this piston after market?
The valve guides also need replacing but Bmw lists a different part number for intake and exhaust. One is no longer available. However the valve stem diameters are the same. Are they different?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Lawrence

[Kurt in S.A.]

I had Vech overhaul my R25/2 engine last year. It was a stock piston with 4 rings. They reused one of the better old rings with a new 3-ring set. Probably pretty standard practice...or you could by two sets of rings.

As for valve guides, I don't really know. Vech sent my head off to Memphis Motor Werks.

Kurt in S.A.

[Garnet]

When I rebuilt my engine I got everything from http://www.bmwbike.com/index.php?e=mhs in Switzerland. I used a new piston from an R50S which bumped the compression up over 9:1 with a nice increase in power. Another good source for parts is http://www.ulismotorradladen.de/uli/Web ... epage.aspx in Germany.