My EX-WIFES ring kept falling off also- usually around the oposite sex. Come to think of it her pants had the same problem.

Do I know her????

If you've spent more than 1 week in GR you probably do know her.

I'm still a litle grey on the silicone thing. Does it go all over the sides of the piston thingy or just in those little groovy thingies?

Silicone is a cure-all. If a little is good, alot must be great! I'd coat the entire piston, wrist pin, connecting rod, and be sure to get into all the little crevices between the rings and bearings, alot of people overlook that imortant detail.

I'd skip the silicon and go strictly with CRAZYGLUE

Should I, like, put a great big bead of it around the bottom of the big hole it fits into before I pound it up through the bottom? I checked the piston thingies with a ruler (a Stanley) and it looked ok to me. The guy at Menard's said these Stanley rulers were really good. Also, I noticed the piston thingies fit in the holes lots better without those scraper thingies on 'em. Silicone takes care of these, right?

Crazy-I've found that if I measure the pistons on a humid day with the yard stick and measure the block on a dry day, that my clearances are very acceptable. Usually less than one little mark. Never bigger than the 1 little mark between two medium sized ones.

You know-Bruce's idea of coating the entire piston skirt with silicon has merit. It sounds like a excellent way to reduce the cylinder leakage. I sure wish I had though of that with the burned valves in my old 454. But what color should I use? Is the red OK, or should I step up to the copper?

Once again, I see all you guys getting way too technical on this piston engine stuff-
Apply a little turbine techonology to this problem-

1)Measure with a micrometer
2)Mark with a grease pencil
3)Cut it with an axe

Jafo, I mean this in the nicest context but;
Turbines and Jet-A just ain't got no class. Gimme pistons and props and LOTS of Avgas! And what's a Micro Meter? Is that a special airplane-guy thingie? Does Stanley have them in the same isle with the rulers?
P.S. I hear you turbine guys just keep pushing the loud-lever forward 'til it flies or you make a loud expensive noise at the end of the runway. By the way, Waterfoul and I cheated death the other night when we went flying. I even let him fly for awhile.