thanks for all the digging, I couldn't even find what you found in the FSM, I have the same manual in your pic, 71 version.

Just so I'm clear, the thrust side would be the downstroke & if you don't want ring gaps on that side how can one avoid it? Your going to have to end up in this area a little bit aren't you? It also looks like they've stacked a gap in one of the diagrams which I thought was a no no.