Piston ring install issues.

[GoToGuy]

A set of the tapered ring/ piston are the ultimate, but the price ouch.
What's the best is what you have used in practice, and that experience gives you the " that is a piece of crap" eyeball knowledge when searching shopping.
I will only say that I have used this style of ring compressor on vehicle engines, small blocks, big blocks, and major overhauls on inline opposed , and radial aircraft engines. And it has worked well for many years.
Are you using a ring expander tool, the inverted pliers, to install rings?
I did mention if it doesn't slide smoothly slight resistance, but goes " clunk" or just stops, STOP pushing.
Your hammering on the piston has potentially created more damage. Have taken a loupe or magnafing glass and bright light and checked ring lands for breaks or damage? This may sound like doom and gloom, but you must be sure, positive that your parts are serviceable.

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This is the ring compressor in my box at work. This is photo off the net, same style.
And ring install tool.
Well, this episode is a bummer.
One thing, if it seems suggestions are overly obvious to you, I can tell you about the Engineer that did not pull the gear pin before takeoff. Anyone can overlook the obvious.

 

[Schurkey]

As said...you need to examine the piston, or simply replace it. There's a good chance the ring lands on the piston have been damaged.

Using that "wrinkle band" ring compressor that I linked-to previously, there is no "pounding" the piston down the hole.

I use the handle-end of a hammer, and just "push" the piston into place. Goes in easy, kinda like sex with a mature woman...not a two-year-old. If you have to force the piston into place, something is wrong.

 

[Orpedcrow]

I wouldn’t say the rings are junk, they’re just brittle by nature. Any ring is likely to break with the side loaded forces you’re explaining.

 

[Erik the Awful]

The chamfer on the bore means that any "adjustable" ring compressor is going to struggle to get the piston in that hole. I wouldn't look anywhere but a tapered cone compressor, but I also wonder if a tapered cone has a thin enough lip.

Never hammer on a piston. I use the rubber butt-end of my dead blow hammer's handle to tap my pistons in. If they don't go smooth, I stop and reassess. That piston you showed is garbage now. Sure, it might survive, but since you're in there, replace it now.

A little extra ring gap isn't bad. Remember, the part of the ring that's exposed between the piston and cylinder wall is only .015" thick.

 

[DeCaff2007]

The chamfer on the bore means that any "adjustable" ring compressor is going to struggle to get the piston in that hole. I wouldn't look anywhere but a tapered cone compressor, but I also wonder if a tapered cone has a thin enough lip.

Never hammer on a piston. I use the rubber butt-end of my dead blow hammer's handle to tap my pistons in. If they don't go smooth, I stop and reassess. That piston you showed is garbage now. Sure, it might survive, but since you're in there, replace it now.

A little extra ring gap isn't bad. Remember, the part of the ring that's exposed between the piston and cylinder wall is only .015" thick.

I can get a new piston easily enough. But if I do that, I have to get all 8 re-balanced. Lovely.

Both my patience and my cash flow are running thin here......

 

[Schurkey]

I can get a new piston easily enough. But if I do that, I have to get all 8 re-balanced.

Not if the "new" piston is the same weight as the "old" piston.

 

[Hipster]

I can get a new piston easily enough. But if I do that, I have to get all 8 re-balanced. Lovely.

Both my patience and my cash flow are running thin here......

most stock set-ups the crank is balanced a touch heavy for the stock pistons and far from really being accurate and run 100's of k's worth of miles, if the new piston is within couple grams you'll never notice. If you're launching off a trans brake at 5k and spinning it to 7k I'd make damn sure it was race balanced and a race balance job is done at a different balance factor then a low rpm street engine. With the way the piston looks hammered on the bottom I'd be concerned about distortion and chewing up the bore/block damage. slow down, take your time. and do it right or you'll be right back in it in a few k miles maybe with non-repairable damage. Take the shortcut and destroy the block.

 

[GoToGuy]

At this point, your worried about few grams? How high is your RPM limit? You did just try to hammer a piston into a cylinder bore. ...

 

[Hipster]

At this point, your worried about few grams? How high is your RPM limit? You did just try to hammer a piston into a cylinder bore. ...

oh jeez, lol. I hate to say it but I hope he wasn't hammering the piston in because the con rod bolt was sitting bottomed out on the crank journal preventing it from going in.

 

[GoToGuy]

That did cross my mind when it " stopped moving ".