Oil on top of pistons, are rings worn

[zdude1967]

I just pulled the head from my 260. The piston tops seemed to have what I called non-carbonized oil. In English this would be oil that can by wiped off to expose the piston top below. As in the photos. My concerns are do the pistons tell a story that rings are worn because the oil is not burnt onto the pistons to the degree that it cannot be wiped clean with a dry rag. I have read that if the pistons have a clean ring around the perimeter that mean s the oil is slipping by the rings and coming over the top of the piston. My photos do not seem to indicate this...however the car has been sitting in a hot Arizona garage not running for 6 months. Does this matter. In any case I would prefer not to have to pull the block and get it rebuilt. Do the photos look like a healthy engine???

Any insight, anyone

Thanks

zdude

[Zs-ondabrain]

Typically, it would be a combonation of possible bad rings and definately bad valve guides/seals. Oil drips down the valves after the engine has been shut off, and the cam leaves the valves open for the oil to slide on to the pistons. Hense the wet look piston tops.

Resolved by rebuilding the head with the valve seats reground and new guides. Maybe it's also time to have the block refreshed by rehoning the cylinders and installing new ring sets, and the usual rebuild with new gaskets, rod and crank bearings and the usual assortment of goodies.

DAve

[zdude1967]

Thanks for the info. Being that the edges of the pistons are not clean do you think that suggests the rings are OK. I did notice the valve stem of the #1 cylinder was caked with damp looking oil build up. I did not really notice the other stems.

ZDUDE