[Barry_R]

I used to sell a piston ring set - or two - on a regular basis.

I use normal motor oil on cylinder walls and rings. A very thin film rubbed into the parts is fine. You do not need to dunk or soak them. Motor oil is what will be lubricating those parts forever - and what they should start out with.

The idea of firing an engine with metal-to-metal contact dry amazes me, and yet many otherwise intelligent folks do it. A request for instant scuffing. WD40 or rubbing alcohol or any other mystery sauce is near equally wrong in my humble opinion. Why introduce an unknown variable - like an oil with untested temperature, ash, and burning characteristics - into the critical, tight tolerance and highly stressed ring seal area of an engine?