LarryC wrote: The bottom line with oil is........there is no bottom line, only opinions and a mix bag of experiences Many of the bad experiences can be attributed to items 1 & 2 below.
Several things can and will affect the rings / cylinders:
1]hone grit
2]block preparation prior to assembly
3]ring material
MYTH: Spraying the bores out with carb cleaner or brake cleaner will get them properly clean for final assembly.
MYTH: dumping extra oil into the cylinders is a good idea on a fresh motor.
Yeah. On mine, I was using a 50-50 mix of Castrol and STP as "assembly lube" and I wiped the cylinder walls and pistons/rings with a thick coat. Also coated all bearing surfaces during assembly and filled the "cam reservoirs" on top with it. I wanted to make sure there was plenty of ZDDP on the surfaces while the oil pump came to life. Worked fine, but did blow a little smoke for a few minutes out the pipe while it cleared out all the extra lube.
After about 100 miles I checked compression bone dry/cold (sat overnight) and got about 150 psi, compared to 155 psi hot so I believe the ring seat is about as tight as it gets. Stock compression is 152. Have never seen even a hint of oil puff in the exhaust and the engine uses zero oil between changes.