Well, you guys were right. The Prothe rings ARE sheeot!
After only about 15,000 miles ALL four 2nd compression rings were broken. The amount of glazing seems staggering to me. These rings felt very good on break-in. But, as the miles accrued, it was clear the compression was dropping.
So, Mr. Goetze will be employed from here on out. This hydro block will receive a refurbished and ported solid head. Will be using a soft plug to close-off the secondary oil drain. This solid head will receive a drill and an aluminum plug to seal off the water port. I performed this earlier in the summer (write-up) on another solid head, but I ended up refurbishing a solid block.
The block has been cleaned up and very well honed. Will be mated to this salvaged ACH which is wearing "Kentucky chrome" due to the fact that this trans would NOT clean up and buff out like all of my others. This early '85 trans casting was really primitive with very SHARP (would cut your fingers if not careful) flashing all over the case. I was going to sand it down but I had this can of Rust Oleum loafing on the shelf.
By the way, the Right Way Ind. pistons still look great and, for moderate turboing, I still think they suffice.
Fall is coming very quickly....it seems. I will be getting this in very soon.
I ran out of my stash of JD green and figured I would employ the "other" Deere shade. Oil leaks should be fairly easy to spot! Should keep the mice out of the engine bay.