It's been a while since I looked at my rings, but I will try to help. What do your instructions actually say? Are your rings a plain set, or is there a moly ring there? As far as the oil rings go, the scrapers are the same, and the expander only really works if you install it with the ends butted together. Use the ring manufacturer's gap recommendation, they made the things, and know the expansion rate of their product. I like closer, rather than wider, ring gaps anyway. Blow-by is power lost. The rings are usually shipped in a box which separates them into 3 stacks, on top of each other. The order is then obvious. My own instructions for my rings, upon reading them, are very vague. Checking the shape of the inside of the ring, will also be instructional. The stripes might also simply be 1stripe=top ring; 2 stripes=second ring. If your set is a moly-ring set, then the marks mean exactly that- stripe=ring groove.
