Rick, I bought a stroker kit from Blykins. It had the crank, rods, pistons, and "plasmamoly" rings. It was a whole set. I don't remember the brand of the rings but could look it up if needed. I tested each set of rings in their specific cylinder bore and checked the ring gap. All were within spec.
Rings were installed offset per the diagram in Monroe's book. Unless they spun inside their bores, they are still set that way.
The breather on the driver's VC was from O'Reilly.
Click Here. It doesn't list the specs but does list the size. I could easily blow thru the filter without restriction. This provided filtered air,but it was never under vacuum as it would be if I connected it to the main throttle body filter. The filter is not
oil soaked. Dimmensions are listed on O'Reilly's website.
I'm going to delete this filter on the VC. I'm going to run a breather from the passenger side VC that connects a tube to the main carb filter base. It has a 1/2 inch ID tube. The driver's side VC gets a PCV valve and plumbed into the base of the throttle body.
I didn't perform any specific ring seating procedure. Just started it and drove it around town. No WOT blasts, but I wasn't babying it either. Definately medium pull runs upto 5000rpm.
I did replace the rear main seal today. Took 4 hours from first
oil pan screw out to last
oil pan screw in. The last seal that I just put in there was a PTFE "Special, upgraded, never fail, even prevent pregnancy in your neighbor's cat" seal. The internal seal lip of it was shredded! I'm not sure what caused it to shred like that. I did have it installed with the lip facing forward. Both the upper half and lower half were destroyed. I just put in a regular rubber RMS this time.
I should get my leak down tester tomorrow and will test. Likely have to do a cold test first. Not too keen on pulling the motor out yet. I will put a tsp or two of oil in the cylinders to help seal. Then see what I get. If I have still have problems and have to pull the motor, I'll remove the crank to inspect the block side of the RMS groove. While replacing this one, the crank looked fine. A little heat discoloration where the RMS rides, but the crank was smooth. I did soak the RMS in oil for 30 minutes prior to installing. (I did that with the PTFE seal too.)