I had heard that carbon seals chip quite easily, and that you have to spend extra time getting the length of the seal just right during the buildup.

No direct experience on my part, anybody have experience with what it takes to successfully build an engine with carbon seals?

-Neil
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The carbon seals are more prone to destruction from detonation than either steel or ceramic seals. The fact is though, that with any IT engine, you should not even be remotely near the detonation threshold unless something is very, very wrong. Non-issue.

Any seal needs to be fitted for length. Two-piece and three-piece steel seals can be used as delivered (and Mazda usually gets them real close anyway) but should be fitted for length. If you have any reservations about fitting the seal for length you don't need to be assembling an engine in the first place. As far as assembly secrets, there are none. These seals have been around forever. Mazdaspeed has setup tips and specs on their website and RB and Mazdatrix are very helpful when you have questions. Like using any other seal the devil is in the details.