Larry,
What's the purpose of the "oil in the sparkplug hole". I've used it in
connection with doing a compression check to diagnose bad rings. If you are
concerned about oiling up the cylinder bores, there are different schools of
thought there. I heard from a usually reliable source that Navy aircraft
engine rebuilders put the pistons in the cylinders "dry". The idea is to get
the rings to seat quicker. Sounded like a plausible idea to me, so the next
time I built an engine I did install the pistons completely dry into
cylinders with no oil on the walls. I certainly did not see any ill effects
from this and, possibly, the rings did seat faster. I turned the crank over
a dozen times or so by hand before firing it up. It is probably a lot more
important to get oil into the galleries before firing; use a hand drill
operating in reverse with a long extension and with a socket that fits the
distributer drive shaft. The oil pump will generate a lot of back torque, so
take it easy. Of course, you can also do this without the drill motor and
turn the shaft by hand, but that's a lot more tedious.
By the way, on the subject of piston rings, the moly alloy rings are
particularly hard to seat. I have always had trouble getting good oil
consuption with both rings moly and I've heard the same problem with others I
know. If you must, use the top one moly and the second standard iron.
It's always exciting firing up and driving away a project. Hope it turns out
like you hoped for. I'm sure you will update us with your progress.
Bob
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