I guess I'm going to have to buy one. Nobody rents, loans or actually has the one I need. Only the 1 piece ones.

Anyone tried pushing the pistons down from the top?

 

traildog,

You don`t need to use a ring compressor.

Cover crankcase openings.

Leave one wrist pin clip off.

Set the jug upside down on the bench.

Partially install the piston into the bottom of the cylinder, push the ends of the rings in with a popsicle stick or your fingers, partially install the wrist pin.

Lower jug/piston over the studs until the wrist pin holes line up, slide in the wrist pin and install clip, lower cylinder. Don`t remove cover over crankcase opening until clip is installed.

 

I tried a ring compressor, it was just in the way. I just pinch the rings with my fingers while I lower the jug with the other hand. I did it that way on my inline 6 cyl Kaw, and I've done it 4 or 5 times on my HD. That's how I do it.

 

I could put the whole motor together with nothing more than a pair of channel locks ...but I prefer to use the right tools, you get better results. Talk to anyone who wrenches Harleys for a living... and they will tell you clips coming out of the wrist pins is one of the most common failures on motors that have been apart. Do yourself a favor and buy the correct tool for the job.

http://www.jpcycles.com/instructions/pdf/432-098.PDF

http://www.jpcycles.com/product/432-098

 

What does a piston ring compressor have to do with wrist pin clips?

 

 

Trying to hold the piston and the cylinder while installing the clips greatly increases your chance of screwing up...yes it can be done...I would never do it...nor I have I seen anyone I would trust do it that way...to each his own.

 

Before me and my buddies had tools we used a hose clamp many times to compress rings..Make damn sure the wrist pin clips are in properly..

 

And another way, that only requires one set of hands...

http://www.nrhsperformance.com/tech_...assembly.shtml

 

Once you put the wrist pin in, you pretty much don't have to hold anything, bending the clips during installation is when they come out, whether they're installed on the bench or on the engine.