If I recall, I think nobrakes went with 35 pilot, 130 main, 2 turns out on the pilot screw when he first tried his 331 kit...
(Now, was that Dynojet #130 or Kawi #130?)

The information sheet that Marvin sent with my 331 kit said in large bold print...
"Too rich will not hurt your engine and you can change it later... Too lean and that's all she wrote, you're toast!" []

Needless to say, I'd like to err on the rich side... So I'm going to go with Dynojet part #'s - 40 pilot, 132 main, 2.5 turns out.

There are so many piston rings (5). How do I figure out which one goes where? What about the splits in the rings - just randomize them around the piston?

I was at my dealership yesterday, about to order the gaskets for the right side... The parts guy talked me out of it because he said a dropped timing chain shouldn't cause me any grief. With the jug off (or even on), I should be able to use a magnetic tool to grab the chain. And then you should be able to get the chain back onto the bottom cog with a little fiddling and maybe turning the crank some. There should be lots of chain there to hold.

Anyway, I was just a little paranoid about nobrakes experience with the timing chain, but I think it can be overcome without taking off the right side engine cover.

 

There's a specific pattern to the gaps in the piston rings, presumably to minimize any blow-by. It is documented in the service manual. As for all the rings, 3 of them make up the oil rings - two flat rings with an accordianed ring in between. These go on the bottom wide gap on the piston. The top two you need to examine carefully to get them in the correct location, again the service manual helps to identify which is which.

 

Excellent, thanks Brian... What are your thought on jet sizes? 40/132/2.5 turns should definitely not be too lean, right?

 

Yeah, that jetting sounds good as a starting point. It should definitely not be too lean.

 

Ditto on consulting the service manual for ring placement. For the order of the top two rings, Marty was talking about how one of them has a chamfer that you can see in the manual.

Don't movethe crankshaftonce you take the cams and tensioner loose. What Nobrakes accomplished was nothing short of amazing. A lot of people drop the chain, but that's the first time I've heard about one actually coming off the sprocket...that's weird, so I'll repeat it again...don't move anything with that chain off of the cams.

If you've had the cover off and have actually seen how that chain is on the crankshaft, you would be duly impressed at Brain's accomplishment. Take it from me when I say that is the part you should be least worried about.

 

When I say dropping the chain, I'm referring to it coming off the bottom sprocket. Just letting the chain fall into the cam chain area is not a big deal. Just zip a zip-ty to it and fish it out with that, or a magnetic wand. But if it comes off the bottom sprocket, trust me it is not easy to get back on. Maybe if you are a mechanic and you do this stuff all the time, but for a noob like me, I tried to get it back on, but no go. And I didn't have gaskets for the right side cover, so a quick trip to the dealer was in order and they pulled the cover, clutch, etc, and put it back on and finished off the top end.

Just don't move the crank when you have the chain off the cams. And you won't have to if you double check that you are at TDC when you take it apart. Note that there are TWO marks near TDC, one labeled "F" that comes up in the site window first, followed by one labeled "T". You want to be at "T". On my second big bore installed, I erroneously stopped at "F" which is slightly before TDC. When I moved the crank to adjust, I think that is when the chain dropped.