Tom, I was a boy of 17 in '57 and overhauling my Hudson in the backyard
in Minneapolis(only partly in the wintertime). And I noticed the rings
were pinned. I believe the company did that because they found some
kind of heat distortion set would occur from the heat on one side with
the sidevalve, as a new engine settled down, so the bores would not be
perfectly round, and the rings would accommodate this, and seal better
if they were pinned.
Some here probably remember the old lore with the Harley 45 flathead
dirt track racers, that new cylinders would distort a bit for the same
reason, so the official advice was to hone them true again after break
in, for the best results. BH
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