[Cliff R]

I made the OP aware of the MAIN ISSUES with this engine about 400-500 posts ago. It went on deaf ears. Instead we are searching the Internet and various other sources to the brink of extinction to find another potential cause when the OBVIOUS problems were right in your face a couple of times and easy repairs made. You can Google all you want, and go all over these Forums and get BUTT LOADS of input on your issues, you can even wear out a few resident "experts" here to a point where they will tell you piston offset the wrong direction and rods backwards on the cranks throws is OK, but as with everything else on this planet it is NOT possible to get past the basic laws of physics with these things.

Somewhere in the history of this engine it got FUBAR'd. The problems from that deal are finally manifesting themselves to where the correct repairs are REQUIRED. Any other course of action is just wasted time/funds and additional "drama" on the thread at this point.

Getting mad and breaking up cinder blocks with your bare hands woln't help, neither will doing hand stands on your fingertips. If I were Mike I'd smoke a hog, get a keg of beer and invite over ALL your friends and even folks you don't know. If I lived closer I'd be the first one in line to help out and get some free smoked pork belly.

Have the car up on cinder blocks, hood off, and before you let everyone get drunker than monkeys have them help you remove the engine again and pull it down to parade rest. Once all the pistons are out locate the chamfered side of the rods and "notch" on the pistons. Put them all back in the right bores with both the rods and pistons facing the right direction. No honing needed, no new rings, etc. You "knurled" the valve guides for crying out loud so throwing more money at rings and such isn't going to be worth the additional expense.

If the rings don't seal up well just get some Comet cleaner and drizzle some into the carb/intake with it running on fast idle at 1500rpm's or so. That'll either get them to "bite" into the bores or give it a miserable death. Either way you'll be a LOT further ahead than you are at this point......IMHO.......Cliff Out