Thanks Alan
Not so frustrating this morning ! We followed your suggestion and added a generous helping oil to the pistons via the transfer ports and through the oil ports – we are starting without the pilgrim pump at present. After easing the oil around with several hand turns of the kick-starter we replaced the ports, the carb. and added long-reach spark plugs. Three kicks and the engine fired and ran with the expected plumes of smoke. Regrettably this proved to be another false dawn as even repeating the procedure wouldn’t cause the engine to run again although the first kick each time did cause the engine to fire.
Further investigation suggests that the engine is blowing rather than sucking through the carb. inlet and yet more investigation shows that air is escaping past the left-hand piston as it moves up the barrel, noticeable through the transfer port where the oil can be seen and heard bubbling- the right-hand does not seem to be doing the same. The engine has been stood for a number of years but seems to have been rebuilt – the piston rings appear new and the water jacket is newly painted.
Am I right to suspect that a top-end (re)re-build is necessary ?
