Piston assembly transportation and installation apparatus and methods of transporting and installing a piston assembly therewith

A method of transporting and installing a piston assembly, comprising:

• providing a piston head having at least one piston ring disposed in a ring groove with the piston ring having a free gap provided between uncompressed opposite ends of the piston ring;
• providing a housing having a bore bounded by an inner cylindrical surface extending from an upper edge of a first end of the housing toward a second end of the housing having a wall extending radially inwardly from the inner cylindrical surface;
• disposing the piston head in the bore of the housing with the piston head facing the second end of the housing without completely closing the free gap of the piston ring;
• transporting the piston assembly within the housing;
• providing a stuffing cone having a through bore extending between a lower end configured to abut an engine block and an upper end;
• positioning the stuffing block over a cylinder bore of an engine block;
• bringing the first end of the housing into abutment with the upper end of the stuffing block;
• and
• pushing the piston assembly from the housing through the stuffing ring and into the cylinder bore.