Piston ring orientation

[KEN_W]

I'm fixin' to put the new rings on my pistons('81 R65), and the book says to install them facing the same direction they were before. Guess who forgot what direction they were in before? Yep, that would be me. The only one that has me stumped is the oil control ring. Both outer edges are beveled, and if there was a gun to my head, I would install it with the bevels facing up(toward the top of the cylinder). Any help would be appreciated!

[Justin B.]

[movedhere] R65 Technical FAQ/Procedures [move by] Justin B..

[Barry]

In principle if an oil ring has a bevel it should always face the piston top. Think of it's action scraping oil downwards back into the crankcase. The bevel wouldn't do that very well. Slotted rings sometimes have an identical bevel top and bottom then it won't matter which way up they are installed at least for a new ring because the oil drains through the back of those rings.

Old rings should ideally go back the way they came out.