Well, fast forward to the rally and the newport was just getting slower by the minute...until...I heard some loud, metal crunching noised and it died.
Last weekend I took the engine out and started to investigate. So far I have the head and the cylinder off and the only thing I found was some build up of carbon and possibly a little bit of metal in the dished area of the head. I also found these two dents in the top of my piston, in the same area where the build up was. Any thoughts? The cylinder and the piston both look good otherwise. There is no sign that they seized. The rings looks good, too.
My next step is to split the case halves and see if there are any problems in there. If not, I think I am going to clean up the top of the piston with dremel/file and put it all back together. Is the piston salvageable?
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Sand those sharp edges off the piston dome and run it. Worst case, it blows a hole in the piston and you damage your bearings / cylinder. I'll bet it runs just fine cleaned up. The carbon build up seems like it wouldn't cause a smash on the piston, but it is kind of tough stuff. What head are you running? Check your little end bearing for play. What is your head clearance when measured with solder?
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