HELP, any ideas on freeing up a stuck ring?

[808ministroke]

okay so my lovely piaggio 86 mhr got injured the other day. i was checking different needles to find optimal one for tune and right after instaling a new one i made it to the end of my street about two blocks before it died as if the spark plug boot had come off or something , no clink or strange sound accompanied this just sorta died. I went to kick it over and the kickstart wouodnt move... i walked it home and was able to get the motor to turn by hand turning stator but not all the way to tdc , after opening up the engine i found bits of metal on the head and piston mostly towards the bottom or the exhaust side. luckily the bore seems fine and all the bearings intact, i believe these peices might have come from the mesh screen/grate on a str8 velocity stack that had come off after a few days i assumed they had been shot off from blow back and donnt know how they would have made it into the bore but reeds were slightly damaged so it is my best guess. I removed these bits with a dremel and there is no metal peircing the sides of piston or through the ring so i assumed i might be able to get it unstuck i am sure the ring is why it actualy died , had it been a double ring i woukd have likely ruined my whole engine.

so i am still having trouble getting it freed almost did the other day by unsing razor blade , i have another ring for but another piston for this kit is a rare find and i am hoping somone has any ideas how i might be able to get it free so i cqn clean ring groove and hopefully get back to two stroke heaven, any suggestions greatly appreciated i will post pics over next few days, thanks.

[oldgeek]

If you have a new ring you may be good.
Carefully get the old ring out, even if it breaks while getting it out. Then use the old broken edge of the old ring as a groove scraper. Be VERY gentle, you dont want to mess up the groove or remove material. You are just cleaning the groove out.

[snaker]

If your sure where the debris came from, you have to suspect contamination along every bit of the induction route. The engine bearings are in the route intentionally to pickup the oil. I would tear it all down and parts wash/inspect carefully.

The ring, maybe a 90 degree pick in the ring gap?

[808ministroke]

today i managed to get the ring off in one piece cleaned out the groove with razor because it did have some rough spots