ORIGINAL: mrbigg
Thanks guys. One more question. To get the rod off the crank pin, I had to pull the sleeve out first. There just wasn't enough play at the wristpin to allow the big end of the rod to slide off. Now I'm wondering how am I going to get it back on the crank. If I leave the liner out, drop the piston/rod assembly in the hole, hook up the rod to the crank, how am I going to compress the ring so that the sleeve would slide down over top the piston?
I don't know if that ring is pinned, but I'm willing to say that it probably is...
The sleeve has a chamfer on the bottom edge...and you need to be sure that the ring end gaps are aligned on either side of the pin in the ring groove.
Use a little oil, and bring the piston to TDC, and work the sleeve down, compressing the ring as you wiggle/jiggle it around the piston.
I like to tilt the sleeve slightly, and start to work it down 180 degrees from the end gap...that way you can squeeze the ring ends together as you work the sleeve down around the ring.
Be careful not to allow the end gap to align with a port opening either...or you can damage the ring.