DadandSonEyes 1989 MAZDA B2600i 4X4 Cab Plus continues HELP

Maybe they milled the block and didn't order a shim. Then they took a dremel to the head so the pistons wouldn't smack the head........just a thought......does the round "groove" in the head appear to be custom?

No the head was cast that way for sure. The .060 was just a guesstament. Now I am going to have to go shovel it out and pull the head to measure dang it! I am in the process of moving but was hoping to order a new head, put it on then drive to new place. Didn't want to keep the parts out laying around lol.

Thank you very much for the prompt replies.

Need help Axel breaker Earl!!!!! We got All our parts in. Finally. Today we followed procedures. Dot the 510x standard size rings from Sealed power! We installed the squiggly metal oil ring on bottom grove with the skinny thin black and shiny rings on top an bottom of that ring. The 2nd groove has the totally flat (not tapered) black iron ring. The TOP groove has the tapered (looks like a step) ring with the marking dot pointed skyward. Then. We proceeded to put oil all Oberon ri GS and pistons. And also on cylinder walls and ring compressor tool.
We crefully aligned pistons one by one and tapped into cylinders with hammer handle(wood on piston head). Once each piston reached the top ring, it was like Paul Bunion had to pound it in! We felt this was odd. To much demand to put piston in. We removed and check rings. All ok. Did again and once again. Still goes in very very hard on top ring! And there was still a little tiny gap with rings in. I checked each one before putting on pistons. We got all in. Got two torqued down. Can NOT turn crank with nearly all my might! Why????

Some type O's above. From iPhone. Sorry. "we did put oil all over pistons and all over cylinders. Etc. I just don't understand why when the piston was going in with the last ( top ring) it was ten times harder to go into cylinder. Had to hit a lot harder with hammer. Each piston. Gentle taps. Then. When it got to top ring coming through was extremely hard to get into cylinder! Now I can NoT turn the crank with a breaker bar!!!!!! What the heck is going on. Crank turned fine and smooth before installing pistons with brand new rings!

Pop the pistons out.
It sounds like you didn't check the ring end gap.
If the gap is too small, or non existent, failure is imminent.
I don't know what the gap spec is for the 2600, but you put the ring in the cylinder and push the piston in(upside down) to square the ring to the cylinder, then check the gap between the ends of the ring.

I lossend the Rod Bearing Bolts enough so they slightly jiggle. I attempted to move/turn the CRANK. I will only move as much as the little play from the Loose Rod Bearing/journals. PISTON WONT MOVE UNLESS YOU PUT A HERCULES AMOUNT OF STRENGTH ON THEM. I am going to remove the pistons again with the BRAND NEW SEALED POWER RINGS that I got ( standard sized ring set )-
BOUGHT THE E-510X Bearing Set /standard set.....RIGHT ? ? ? ? HELP / ADVICE. WHY WON'T MY PISTONS MOVE HARDLY. I can hammer them BACK OUT OF THE BLOCK with hammer/wood dowell. and rings look find, not bent or scratched up. Accept the TOP RING looks like it is fitting a little to tightly, prevengint piston from moving smoothly. My FIRST EXPERIENCE USING SEALED POWER RINGS PRODUCTS.

DadandSonEyes--
SOUTHEAST - USA

FOUND THE ISSUE !!!! We had the rings on wrong slots, the directions were not clear. Fixed. PISTONS GO IN NORMALLY NOW., NICE SNUG FIT, AND MOVE FREELY AS EXPECTED WHEN TURNING CRANK SHAFT !!!

Good news!

Been shingling the roof all day! I responded to one of your threads on this build (HINT! Pick one thread and use it only!) last night I think........and after reading THIS thread right now.....as soon as you said you had the stepped ring in the top groove, I knew you had them in the wrong groove!
Typically the plain square edged ring is the top ring most of the time........but I just got through doing one of these engines, so I knew that right away.

Good to know you didn't break one of the rings.......they're cast iron and they will snap! Glad you got it figured out.......take your time and don't get in a hurry......I'm a professional......at not getting in a hurry!

Yep!!!! Exactly. Thank you a million for your help though. Still have new challenges every day. But today, my son and I got a lot done. Got pistons in and TORQED down rod bearings. Moves smoothly! Installed new timing gears. New balance gears. New timing and balance chains and all brand new guides! Installed oil pump and oil pump pipe tonoil pan reservoir. Installed water pump. Etc. Missing some bolts for that oil pump cover. Don't know where they went. Ugh!!!! Have to buy some I guess. Ugh! Anyway. My son and I got a lot accomplished today. He is only 16 and had to drop his Automechanics class to take up Army JROTC. So I told him, in honor of that choice I would teach him Automechanics. Buy him a truck(his first vehicle) and we would rebuid together. Appreciate your help. We used books. Diagrams. YouTube. And all your pictures and help to do this so far. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to help out via this web page !!!!
DadandSonEyes!