This engine has been recently rebuilt! It looks to be in really good shape for an engine to be used for an overhaul makeover. You can see the honing marks in the cylinders and there are *zero* ridges. I'd put 3500 miles on it. The water jacket is pretty clean. The headbolts came out with a threadlocker on them. I am really happy with the state of this engine!
Now the ugly. There is in every cylinder what looks like a rust patina in the honing ridges. It is uniform, unlike my spare engine from the other thread. I don't know if this thing was rusted out and then given a superficial hone to get running or if the four years in the unheated barn in Wisconsin added the corrosion. Whatever it may be, I suspect it's the cause of the low compression. As far as old cars go, it would probably get better over time as the rings wear down the cylinder wall, but hey, she's getting a bore.
I did a few web searches on rings not seating as these just don't look like they're even touching. If there's excessive gas going into the pistons "washing" the rings, it could mess up the finish on the rings. The original carb on this car was dripping gasoline into the engine, even after the rebuild. I drove over 2,000 miles across country and only got 14 MPG with the original one barrel. Awful performance the whole way.
Other threads talk about cars that have sat and carboned up and are sticking. That seems like the cylinders would have originally broken in and would not look the way they do now.
What do you think, is it a case of rings that never broke in? Something else?
Do you think it could be some sort of plating? I found pictures of Nikasil coatings (nickel silicon carbide) that leave the cylinder this golden color. The youtube video looks like it would be pretty unlikely to douse an entire block in a vat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn53m2-TNSo
