[wmjinman]

Thanks Mech. That makes a lot of sense. The mechanic insists the thing shouldn't need rings. No smoking apparent, smooth cylinder walls, VERY minimal "lip"....

And then when I suggested the "quickie re-ring" I'd read about, he said we'd really need to take the whole thing to the machine shop and "do it right". Then he repeated how nice the cylinders looked....

One question I have is why the oil seems to get black so soon. Could it have been from the out of tolerance valve guides, or does it mean soot & crud are getting past the rings? Or could it mean something else?

By "getting black soon", I mean well before I do the oil change (at 5000 miles). The oil in the other cars I've owned (newer cars in good shape) would be a bit dirty and definitely no longer "clear" by 5000 miles, but not "black". With this thing, the oil is actually BLACK.

edit:
PS: The thought of a head gasket problem blocking the oil to the cam occurred to me. The bearings on one end were ok, but the ones on the other end were screwed up. Dunno if that means anything. But with other engines, I've heard of getting the wrong gasket or putting in on backwards, or...