Oil ring expander end gap?
 

So I'm putting this vitara setup together now, 75,5mm pistons. I've filed the ring gap to where I want it to be, but the oil ring expander confuses me... I got some npr rings with the pistons, and the expander looks different than on my stock pistons. Also on my stock pistons the expanders ends didnt touch, it was a small gap. On these rings, they are touching, and have to be squeesed pretty hard just to get into the cylinder. Are they supposed to be shortened or wtf?? The instructions dont say anything about this...

Attachment 10083

Any comments? The flash and the macro function makes the piston look like crap and all scraped up, the piston is fine :p

Re: Oil ring expander end gap?
 

usually you just file the top two rings, and dont do ---- with the oil rings. im pretty sure, like 99%, that i didnt do ---- to mine on my built B16A turbo motor...

Re: Oil ring expander end gap?
 

Yeah, thats what I did. When I got back and took a closer look at the expander and noticed it had small hooks on the backside, so it'll stay behind the oil rings, pushing them out towards the cylinder. So it'll work kind of like an "ring expander" :1 lol... never mind, sometimes I just think too much :p