Well, from the pictures it won't look like I really accomplished much this weekend, but in reality a lot got accomplished... I think Saturday was about a 10 hour day, yesterday was about 12 hours and today was only about 8- but I managed to put new rings and bearings (rod and mains) in the flathead. It probably sounds ridiculous to take that much time to some, but it was the first time I've ever done it, and did so without help.
I did a compression test a few weeks ago and found 80 PSI on all cylinders except for number 4, where I got about 15. So I pulled the heads, and dropped the pan. To say the least, the piston was UGLY... The top compression ring had broken and came through the top of the piston, before smashing into the head and became imbedded in the piston itself- amazingly leaving the valves intact. The rod bearing was also pretty worn, so I pulled the number 1 piston had found a similar story, except the top ring didn't come up through piston (although it probably would have soon).
Last week I pulled the remaining pistons and found every piston had a broken top ring. Fortunately the bores had remained pretty intact (except some scoring on number 4), so I used a deglazer to put some cross-hatching back in it. It was still standard bore, but all the ring lands in the pistons were worn for the top ring, so I switched them with a set I have from a different flathead I got recently. Also went with cast iron rings to help seat them easier since this motor probably doesn't have the straightest bores
Anyways, after a quick hone, new rings, and putting new bearings in (boy was the top rear main bearing a pain to change!) I put it back together and fired it up this afternoon. I was worried at first because it seemed REAL tight when I tried cranking it, but after I let the jumper pack fully charge, it started right up. Still getting a bit of blue smoke, probably just from all the oil I put on the rings and getting them seated, but no blow-by through the breather at all. Also, managed to relocate the dipstick from the drivers side (where I had a lot of interference from exhaust and the steering box) to the passengers side, which made things a lot better.
