Ok last update for awhile since I have to go back to work tomorrow.
This is the piston protrusion checker me and my dad put our heads together on.
He had the aluminum and bolts, and I came up with the indicator and spare pump part.
Works great! Has a full 3-3.5mm of readability which is plenty for this purpose.
I want to improve it to use head bolts that thread in so it doesn't have to be a 2 person job nearly.
For as little time it takes to turn over TDC, we get accurate and consistent readings with it.
Our measurements indicated a 1 notch head gasket was needed, since there was no projection over 0.86mm.
We will measure again after it's all back together and double check before ordering.
It had a 3 notch gasket installed which looked fairly new. Still had the blue tacky sealer around the edge in some spots.





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Here's the oil pan and pump screen completely sludged up...



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I then stamped everything and removed the pistons. Sure enough, pistons 3 and 4 were the worst. Piston 2 was the only one with all 3 rings still loose in the grooves.
Got the old rings out and gave the pistons a light washing then cleaned the oil pump out real good.
Also got a shot of #1 and #4 rod journals. The rod bearings and journals all look and feel fine, looks like most of the damage is in the pistons and rings.














This being a project motor more than anything, I'm just going to hone, re-ring, and get the right headgasket for it.
I'll be in this build right around 100 bucks back up and running with good compression I'm hoping.
I need to figure out what I'm going to do with it if it has good compression next.
More than likely turbo...