Soak the pistons in some good solvent for a day or two and then use an old, broken ring to scrape anything out.
Check the ring depth versus the ring gap depth.
Get a ring compressor the correct size for the pistons. I use that same Harbor Freight compressor you have there, but the chamfer on your deck looks almost cartoonish. The HF compressor won't work with that much chamfer. Did your block come that way?
Yes, the block came that way. I've been comparing with pic of other SBC's and I'll agree... that's a bit much of an angle there.
I have good news, though. I tried again after I calmed down a bit and managed to JUST get the bottom ring in the cylinder. It required all the strength I had with a dead blow hammer because that ancient ring compressor does not form a circle around the piston. It's more of an imperfect oval. That could be a big part of the problem right there.
A few more excessive blows with the dead blow and oh look, the second ring wants to maybe go in. I ended up snapping the second ring. GRRRRR. Well now I have to remove the piston. Using a long, 3/8" extension and a ball peen hammer, (from the bottom of the block) the piston came out with some massaging.
You must be registered for see images attach
@Schurkey, I went ahead and ordered the "new" style ring compressor. It won't be here until after the holidays. While I'm spending more money, can anyone recommend a new set of rings? The ones I have now are "Sealed Power" from Rock Auto. The ring groove depth is .166. Yes, it matters.
Let me address one more thing here. Everyone keeps asking about ring gap. The aforementioned video showed a 0.014 feeler gauge going through the ring gap with excessive clearance. Then, it showed a 0.020 feeler gauge
just touching. We measured every ring for that cylinder and well... even a 0.021 feeler gauge was like a hot dog down a hallway. You'd think those rings would have slid right in......
