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Doesn't sound feasible. Everything's going to move out of alignment while you're trying to something fiddly. I make ring compressers from drinks cans, held in place with cable ties.
Doing drag racing means we do this job several times a year on two engines, I have polished the chamfers and polished a small radius between the bore and chamfer. Using engine oil and fitting the block over 2 + 3 pistons first the block almost falls on, then rotate the crank slightly to lift 1 + 4 pistons and drop the block onto them, the rings slide in easily. Best done with two people, one each side of the engine.
Thanks everyone. I took them in this morning. My only concern is that there is not going to be a great deal of wall thickness left at the bottom of each sleeve and the loss of any usable chamfer may mean a faff with the rings. Just an idea but is it possible to sick two pistons in the barrel first then just fit the gudgeon pins rather than attempting all four piston whilst lowering the cylinders ?