Should 2nd gen oil rings be brittle???

[90AWDRaleigh]

I am in the process of putting together a 6 bolt with 2nd gen pistons. The piston rings in question were in use for 600 miles on my other motor before one of the valve guides dropped. Anyways, I was putting one of the pistons in last nite, and I guess I wasn't being as careful as I should have, I broke one of the oil rings. Just out of curiosity I took the broken ring out and started bending it very slightly, when it shattered. I tried the same thing with some 7.8:1 oil rings and they just kept bending, no problem. My question, as stated in the title, should the oil ring be that brittle, was it a design change from the 1st gen? Also, can you order rings by the cylinder? Thanks, Mike

 

[90AWDRaleigh]

I am asking about the upper and lower portions, not the wavy part.

 

[Defiant]

Well, piston rings are iron. They don't usually bend too well, and they hold up to heat very well. But snapping an oil control ring is fairly common, you have to be very careful with how much you flex them, and how.

So far as I know, you'll need to get a complete set of rings to replace a broken one. I don't know if contacting the manufacturer directly will help or not.