J&P Community

I have always checked the ring end gap and called it good. I am putting my '75 1200 back together (after removing the wavy washers on the rocker arms) and I noticed some carbon on on a compression ring that seemed to be slightly binding it. No chunks just a dark area. In the process of cleaning it up I checked the manual and it calls for .004-.005 Compression Ring SIDE Clearance and shows a picture of how to measure it.
My question is, if you have less clearance than that, how do you adjust? The only choices are to make the ring thinner or the groove in the piston bigger. Once you answer the first question about how to adjust, my next question is how do you do it?

 Ring end gap provides the land clearence. File the end of the ring.

Side clearance if too small can be adjusted with fine lapping compound. Apply it to the upper or lower portion of the ring, and use the ring as a lapping tool to increase the clearance.

That said, unless you are building a maximum effort engine, as long as the ring grooves are clean with no carbon closing the clearances down, this is generally not an issue.