So, I have been dealing with a stuck engine...

[chrisreale]

..and I thought that there was something wrong with the cylinders. On the 1-2 side, they were fine. I took the head off, and everything was peachy. But the engine was still stuck. So I go over to the 3-4 side and remove the rocker arms etc... and attempt to take the head off. Due to a piece of engine tin that I cant get off I can only get the head about 0ne inch away from the cylinders. I had to pry a small bit, but lo and behold, the engine spins now. Before, when I broke the engine free by pushing it backwards in gear, it would rythmically chug backwards like one cylinder was causing it to hang up every time it functioned. My question is, could it possibly be a piston ring or gasket between the head and cylinder that caused this lock up. I am still going to take the remaining head off, but until then, what do you think this was? Any of yo ever experience some type of piston-cylinder failure due to the contact between the head and the cylinder?

[Ron Meier]

If the cylinder head was flycut to deep, the piston would hit the head and lock up the engine

look for marks on the top of the piston (if you can see it) or marks in the head (with a mirror). All marks would be in the outer circumference of the piston or head.

[chrisreale]

Thanks Ron. I'll check it out

[Ron Meier]

something I fogot to add - If the heads were cut to much, the valves could interfere with rotating the engine. If you have enough room to drop the mirror in, you might see scuffs on the piston.