Hi folks, quick history - bought a 1997 savage, ~6,800 miles, knowing that the engine didn't have compression when I bought it. This is my first engine tear down - and while tearing down the engine, I found the following:
- The cam chain tensioner was missing, along with the adjuster assembly completely apart with the adjuster spring in pieces (this may have been the culprit to the damages described below); I plan to order verslavy mod, and have ordered a new tensioner, and chain;
- The cylinder head seemed to have no noticable damages, neither did the cam; The cam chain had a "kink" in one particular area, so I will be replacing it;
- The top of the piston seems to have a fair amount of gashes/scratches (see picture), and clymer didn't have any suggestions on the condition of the top side except for not removing any of the carbon deposit; I didn't clean the piston at all, I found it as pictured; The side of the piston cylinder looked fine, one of the rings broke off while I was removing it...
- The valves looked ok with no obvious damage, and was within the clymer specs (so I cleaned and lapped the valves );
- I took the cylinder out and have cleaned it and glazed the inside with a hone;
- The previous owner seems to have done a half-a$$ job of putting the engine together after attempting to "fix" the bike, and found goopy RTV gasket sealer used super liberally especially around the cylinder head, head gasket, and head bolts, where he tried to "glue" the bolts back to the cylinder head with the gasket sealer;
Based on the attached picture of the piston - I am looking for advice on whether the piston looks re-usable because of the numerous gashes/scratches, or should I bite the bullet and buy a new piston? Anything else I should inspect?
Really appreciate the help!
MJ