'73 18hp. This one was given to me. It's for my Jon. It didn't run, and know I know why. Some history. This one was locked up at some point. Last owner (a really big guy) broke it free. Judging by the sheared flywheel key, he didn't use enough, if any, solvent. There is NO ring ridge, pistons are stock, no OS stamping. There is no evidence of overheating. Paint on exhaust side and right side looks good, considering age. My best guess is is sat for a really long time with no sleepy time maintenance, then someone tried to get it goin again, probably on bad gas. The bottom hole is surface rusted on the bottom of the hole. I played around with some every cloth and got it to FEEL smooth again. A note on the feel thing. A machinist once told me that the human hand can only detect about a 2 to 3 mil difference in surfaces. The rusty look is still very much there, see pics. On further inspection thru the fuel pump port, the rings looks and feel stuck. The piston skirt shows some scuffing, no galling. There is no side to side play in the rings. With a tiny screwdriver, I tried to get them to move. No go. Movement between the lands is very very minute, with careful prying and wiggling of the tiny screwdriver. Note, piston to bore clearance at the top of the bore is close, between .0020 and .0025 with my feeler guages. (I read no wear, to speak of-no ring ridge either) I was tempted to put the head back on, load it with sea foam and hope for the best. Now I'm tempted to go thru it, de-glaze it and re-ring it stock. Head gaskets are about $20 each, don't want to be wasting a 20 spot.Whats the best course of action here? Will new rings clean up the surface rust, or am I looking at a .020 over piston-bore job for the bottom hole? Putting it back together and hoping for the best went out the window after checking thru the fuel pump port. Another question? Anyone know about how much material is lost after a good deglaze? Thanks, KR
