[n4mwd]

I aligned my rings the way the manual says and there was no problem. I didn't have any problem getting the pistons to go into the cylinders either. There was a little extra force at first, but they just went right in. I just lined up the pistons and gave the cylinder block a shove.

The hard part is getting the timing chain to behave. It keeps wanting to fall back down the hole.

Don't forget the gasket. You can reuse the lower, but the upper should be replaced.

Its also not a bad idea to get a straight edge and check for head warpage while you are in there.