Thank you Bill Kennedy, David Shepherdson, Tom Carrington, Andy Burczyk,
Bob Hoover, and Dave Kautz for your helpful replies! I double-checked the 
ring gaps for the upper *and* lower compression rings and they were all 
within acceptable parameters (tolerance range for new rings is 
0.014-0.022"-upper and 0.012-0.022"-lower) on this type 4 engine.

I cleaned some more with some paper towels until they no longer turned 
grey. I guess the first cleaning wasn't thorough enough... Reinstalled 
the pistons back into their cylinders and slid them in back and forth a 
few times with a more liberal use of oil. Much less friction now.

Thanks again.

-- 
Sami ('75 Westf.)
dakhlia@wuecona.wustl.edu
http://wuecon.wustl.edu/~samid/