Piston installation. Please help

I put the pistons on the rods first, and use well oiled hose clamps as ring compressors.
Goes together real easy.

Have a buddy help out. An extra set of hands are very helpful unless you are an experienced builder.

Since you have bored out the 750's cylinders you will notice the original wall thickness is significantly reduced in thickness compared to the stock factory bore and cylinder thickness. The bottoms of my 810 cylinders are almost razor sharp as my machine shop had barely any cylinder wall to work with.


Because of this, there is not very much metal to have a chamfer (angle cut) on the bottom of the cylinders. A good healthy chamfer really helps to compress the rings evenly and everything snugs in smoothly.

I have had my motor apart a couple of times and have found that Sandy's advice is dead on, do number 2 and 3 first and as Jay mentioned, popsicle sticks work very nicely and will not damage the rings as the wood is softer than the rings.

Take your time and make sure that the rings are all installed as per the instructions in the boxes. You don't want to put in a ring upside down.

BTW, I use Lucas Oil additive any time I reassemble engine parts that require lubrication. The stuff is thick like honey and comes in a plastic bottle with a cone-shaped applicator as a top. This lubricant doesn't drip off parts due to its thick viscosity in case you end up taking longer than expected to reassemble the motor and it also burns off fairly quickly.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

Post edited by: reborn650, at: 2007/09/30 01:44

Anyone set their ring end gap before installing the assembled pistons in the cylinders? What should his end gap be on his 810 kit?

Wondering what that gap should be on my 615 kit, as I'll be doing this in a about 3-4 weeks.

Here's some info Corey...

www.wiseco.com/PDFs/Manuals/RingEndGap.pdf

stay away from popsickle sticks! They are used for craft work only. If your oil rings have decent tension you will not be able to push them in with anything other than a clamp or compressor. starting with the inside pistons is a very good method as opposed to all four at once. This method allows the cylinder block to fall down over the ring once it has been compressed by the clamp. If you do not have a champfer at the bottom of the sleeves, you can tape the point of a round file to protect the cyl. walls and make your own champfer. This is safe and easy and ensures the rings will not try to hang up. Have someone hold the block up while you work the rings in so the weight on the rings is reduced. If you choose to champfer, use some 220 paper to smooth the champfers. Don't let anyone talk you into letting the oil can set on the shelf.

Thanks Sandy! Saved it to my favorites. Just need the proper machine to grind them needed. :blink:

I have been using the hose clamps now and they work great...they are a little narrow, so they just fit the width of the space between the top an oil scaper rings, so you just got to go slow.
but, they slip right in...one person job too..