That is exactly what happened, but the compressor I was using didn't help.
I was using the "aircooled style" wraparound that is very short to hit the
rings only, just a bit more, and it has a wavy pattern, which is most of
the problem. I should have been using the long, smooth spring steel coil
that you ratchet onto the piston. That would not allow the various openings
of the waterboxer piston to get caught. And yes, it had the three piece oil
rings.

Jim

On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 7:55 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:

> And the piston needs to be pushed in from the top! Especially if you have
> the three piece oil rings. Otherwiese they get caught up in the notches for
> the pin to clear.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Jim Felder
> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 8:29 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Need oil ring for 2.1 standard bore
>
> Got the hesitant piston out of my 2.1 yesterday. Putting the piston back
> in,
> I broke the oil ring. Does anyone have just the oil ring, or a single
> piston
> set? Piston diameter is 93.98.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jim (who will use the right ring compressor next time)
>
>