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Got into the motor tonight. I pulled the front head and jug off. As expected the piston had oil on it. From what I can see, there was no failure of rings, etc. I can see oil in the exhaust port of the head. The jug doesn't look so good.
Cylinders look badly worn, likely a lot of leakage past rings, but if you look at the oil drain hole you can see it is drawing oil past the head gasket and into the combustion chamber, this is very common.
What you are dealing with is a backyard rebuilt motor by somebody who listened to their buddies and no friggen clue, not to mention did the old " break it in like your going to ride it " philosophy. Listen to jonhjzjz and I'll second Panz advice on the Cometic gaskets , the old James stuff just isn't up the job anymore.
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