<VV> Blowby sanity check

[Brent Covey]

Matt writes;
> No...OIL CONTROL rings keep oil from being sucked UP into the cylinders...
> Top piston ring is the TRUE compression  holder

This is especially common on no moly top ring engines, like 110's and
earlies (140, turbo and some AIR have Moly)- the Moly top rings seem much
less sensitive about this, the older chrome etc rings are rather more prone
to issues.

The compression will be lost but oil consumption is still quite good, and no
visible smoke.

This is an especially common problem in engines with tapered (worn more in
the middle than at the ends, somewhat like the inside of a beer-barrel
shape) cylinders, those of you running sans shrouds/WORKING thermostats,
take note;-)

If you want maximum cylinder and ring life in climates where the temperature
varies or use the car for short trips much, its very important to have the
thermostats to reduce cylinder wear as the engine warms up, via quick warmup
to operating clearances.

The pistons warm up MUCH faster than the barrels do, a delayed warmup tends
to wear much faster- the middles wear out faster because the piston speed is
much higher as it whooshes along the midpoint of its stroke, than at
extremes of travel.

Brent Covey
Vancouver BC