Piston Rings On Seagull

[Coaster]

I stripped my Seagull outboard down to replace a new block, now I'm having trouble getting the piston into place because the rings wont close in. Any ideas on an easy way to do it without snapping them. I know there is a special tool to do this but its only a one off time

[phil]

Get a piece of light flat sheet metal about 1 1/4" wide and long enough to encircle the piston minus about 5/8" bent out wings about 1" long at that point that you can grasp with pliers. Oil up piston and bore put sheet metal ring around the piston making certain that the ring ends register to the pins and that the piston is the proper side up. Adjust the sheet metal to almost flush with the top edge of the top ring, start piston in bore, loosen pliers just enough to be able to slid piston and rings into bore and you are done. You can probably do it using your fingers to compress the ring instead of the pliers, whichever you find most comfortable.

[RickUK]

There is a chamfer on the bore of Seagull cylinders that close up the rings for reassembly - all you need to do is to make sure the ends of the rings align with the pegs in the ring grooves, and push gently. Rick