Thanks for the advice Josh (and everyone else), but I'm going to spend my money at ERT regardless. No reason to go anywhere else. I'm not taking any chances to save a couple bones. (Which goes to show you new guys a thing or two imo.)

I had to upload pics of the bad tire before work this AM, so I finally got the ones of my damaged cylinder walls uploaded. All the ones I took of the piston were shity and blurry, so this is all that's worth looking at. Fux0r3d!

I think this one shows the damage caused by the top edge of the piston leaning over into the wall and slapping. The edge was starting to round down. It had a nice polish to it there.


IN the middle here, you can see where the wrist pin was riding on the wall. Two vertical lines about a half inch apart running up the middle. This would be so much cooler if I had a built 2-4 ready to go...


If I didn't have a Mountain Dew right here already, I would be thinking about getting one on my way back in. This was the messiest engine pull I have ever done. Remember that fight scene in The Transporter? Yeah. It was kinda like that. Only Daisy kicked my ass instead of me strapping on some bike pedals and whooping ass.

"By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
and third by experience, which is the bitterest." - Confucius