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Before I put the rings on to each piston, I checked that they had the correct end gap in the cylinder that they were going to go into. Each one was well within the specified tolerance.
Checking piston ring end gap with a feeler gauge.
Once all of the piston ring end gaps were checked, I began putting them on the pistons. Putting the rings on the pistons was very time consuming and painful, probably because I was using my hands instead of a ring expander. I got no less than four large cuts on my fingers from doing it. The oil control rings were by far the most temperamental, while the top rings were pretty easy to do.
Installing the oil control rings by hand.
Piston and Con Rod Installation
With the crank installed and the rings put on the pistons, it was time to install the pistons into the cylinders. This was actually pretty easy, but the ring compressor I bought has a lot of sharp edges, so it was a bit of a bloodbath. All of my gloves in the garage are full of grit, so I had to do it all natural.
Each piston was dunked into a container of oil, along with the ring compressor. The ring compressor was also cleaned after each use.
The ring compressor and pistons were dunked in oil before installation into the cylinders.
The pistons and the rods must go in a certain direction. The rods must go in so that the side with the big chamfer is facing the nearest main bearing, and the side with no chamfer goes against the other connecting rod on that crank pin. The pistons go in with the dot facing toward the front of the engine. These two constraints mean that there are four rods and pistons that have the front of the piston and the large rod chamfer on the same side (left cylinder bank), and the other four have the front of the piston and the large chamfer on opposite sides (right cylinder bank).
The side of the rod with the large chamfer (shown) faces the main bearing webs. The opposite side (which is much flatter) faces the other connecting rod on the same crank pin. Putting a rod in backwards would be a disaster. The rotating assembly would probably seize just by turning it by hand.
One thing I had to be careful of was holding the ring compressor down against the deck surface. If any gap forms, the oil control rings will almost definitely come out and possibly break when tapping the piston face with the mallet. I only had one come out and I noticed it before tapping the piston in further.
Installing the pistons.
All pistons installed.
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