Originally Posted by
Dalepad
It's hard to tell in the photos but it looks like it has carbon build up from being used. Does it run?
+1 this engine has a lot of hours on it using a high oil content fuel on a rich needle. What I like about the photos is you can see some interesting things going on. The sleeve has a consistant color, so I know it's never been over heated. @ 7 o'clock the pistion face there is pretty clean area under the squish band. I bet there's a trasfer port there & it has a lower timing than the other trans-ports. On the block next to the sleeve from 12 -1 and 5-6 o'clock you can see the dark burnt oil residue. I think if you did some really careful measuring, you'll find that this sleeve's been pinched at least once.
I'd be curious to see what the inside of the sleeve looks like above the exhaust port. Is it whitish or gold "brassy" in appearance.
Cleaning the engine will remove the built up carbon and sludge, that also means tolerances will be opened up (loss of compression). If the engine ran good before you lifted the head, I'd say only wipe the piston face (w/o removeing from the sleeve) and wipe out the head, then run that little fella' til the cows come home. A good thorough cleaining will mess up the fit between the P/S on a heavily used engine like this one.