Some of you may remember that I posted a few posts down that I was finally able to kill my '62's original B18 engine a couple of months ago. A recent compression check revealed 30 lbs on cylinder #2, so I might have broken a piston ring.

Well, I have this used B18 engine that according to the seller came out of a '67 122 wagon with 86K on the clock and ran fine when he personally removed it from a car that succumbered to rust. I actually do believe the seller (very nice guy from this board), but of course, nobody can really know for sure how many miles a 40+ year old car has traveled.

I put the engine on an engine stand, removed the valve cover and it looks clean as a whistle in there. I then took out the spark plugs and filled quite a bit of Marvel's Mystery Oil, in, just in case, and let it sit for 3 days. My mechanic then pushed on the flywheel, like the clutch would do it, and there was a bit, a tiny bit of play back and forth in it. That caused him to say that the crank and main bearings should be replaced. At the same time he wants to pull the head and put new piston rings on. I had planed to replace both crank main seals (with the modified housings) before installing the engine anyway.

Now here's something I'm not sure about. If an engine's piston rings are good, should the Mystery oil be able to make its way down the piston into the oil pan anyway? I removed the oil drain plug today and out came the clean Mystery oil I had filled in on top just 3 days ago.

Which brings me to the second question. Is it "okay" for the flywheel to have some tiny play? It's not a lot (2 or 3 hundreds of an inch, perhaps?), but it's definitely there?

Third and final question: would you agree with my mechanic that it makes sense to do piston rings, crank and rod bearings, and both main seals (plus water pump) at this time, or would you install the engine pretty much "as is" hoping it will continue to run okay and only in case it doesn't rebuild my engine, the one that I know still runs (albeit on 3 cylinders), instead?

Any and all input is highly appreciated.

Thanks guys!
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