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Doug, after removing the slight amount of carbon buildup in the top area of the pistons, I have found absolutely no ridge. More and more I'm finding evidence corroborating with my sense, when combined with the nature of this car's history (more on that soon), that this car was actually conservatively driven...at least relative to how most of us like to drive our P-cars!
Interesting though about these rabbit holes...so many different opinions about what works best and what does not. Very surprising to me...thinking about so many issues with these cars which would seem to be fairly straightforward - long ago solved engineering problems...which continue to evoke such controversy. Why is this?
At any rate...after obsessing with gathering as much info as reasonably possible (given that I also have a life separate from my car)...I will simply need to trust my gut and dive in.
At this point, while I do plan to replace all bearings, gently lap the valves and replace guides/seals, and do a complete reseal of my engine...I will look at the existing rings very carefully (may consult with someone knowledgeable with specifics of doing this assessment). If they look good...and if the gaps are well within spec - I will likely re-use them.
In the meantime I will likely reach out to get more info from those who you've mentioned...thinking that new rings would run fine without any honing, but still would only consider doing this if it were more than merely "fine" to do so, but would also offer some advantage to sticking with the old ones. I would hate to needlessly jeopardize my cylinder walls...and I would also hope that if I do go with new rings, they are every bit as good (from an initial quality standpoint) as are the original ones. But that is a whole discussion in itself!
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