Before the piston and connecting rod assemblies could be pulled, the cylinder head and oil pan had to be dismantled. With the help of your fingernail, you should feel for any ridges at the upper end of ring travel-these must be flattened by a ridge reamer if present, otherwise the piston may break. After the removal of these ridges, position the engine in a manner that the crankshaft is on the upper side. Measure the connecting rod bearing clearance with the feeler gauges, that should be within the given tolerance; if not, one will require new connecting rods. There is nothing as confusing connecting rods and their respective caps and therefore should be easily distinguishable, the connecting rod cap bolts should then be loosened gently. Pull the connecting rod cap/bearing to free the insert while it remains engaged and, through the top of the engine, pop the connecting rod/piston. Do this for the other cylinders, to avoid damaging the glands, screws and lids of the caps and the inserts. The state of the pistons and the connecting rods will have to be assessed for further working or replacement they are thus prepared. Prior to replacing worn out piston rings you should always measure ring end gaps, while checking the piston ring side clearance. Arrange and spread out the piston/connecting rod assemblies and new rings in such a way that during the process of installation, they can be matched. Put top ring to the first cylinder, align it with the walls and check the end clearance with the feeler gauges. If the gap is wrong then it can also be corrected but slowly and with great focus. First insert the oil control ring, implement the middle ring and finally, the top one, making sure they face the right way. Before installation, one needs to see that the cylinder walls are clean, that the edges should be chamfered and the crankshaft inserted. Check and replace the connecting rod and cap bearing inserts with the help of a rod loser and be sure that they have to be set with a small clearance without any oil between them. Space the piston ring gaps correctly to allow oil to fill the gap, apply oil on the piston and the ring and use the piston ring compressor for purposes of putting them in place. After the connecting rod is inserted into the small end of the piston, try to push the piston and connecting rod assembly into the cylinder bore and feel if there is some sort of resistance. As mentioned check the bearing oil clearance of the connecting rod using Plastigage, also verify size and condition of the bearing inserts. If the clearance is not as specified, there could be much more to this than just indicating the type of clearance that is required. Remove all crudded up Plastigage if any, coat the bearing faces with grease or assembly lube and fit back the rod cap along with the new bolts and torque them to their recommended settings. The same process should be repeated till all the assemblies are cleaned and placed in the correct orientation. Following installation perform the crankshaft rotating to reveal binding problems and again check the amount of endplay of the connecting rod as it should be within limits.
