I took off the head and lubed the cylinder and with some help using the wheel was able to get the piston moving---everything looks fine pretty much but what happens is I move the piston thru 1-2 strokes and then it sticks-----moving the wheel backward the piston frees up again and then I can move the piston in the normal direction a couple more revs and then sticks again----I can do this over and over. Almost like top dead center up or down on the stroke sticks the piston. Seems like some kind of alignment. I said earlier the engine was really hard to feed the chain because the drive gear had easy and hard places in rotation when I had to install the chain.

Using a Premium Homelite 2 cycle oil---but that can't be the why the piston moves thru the revolutions and has easy/hard and frozen places.

Are you saying the piston sticks even with the head off? If you are turning it with no fuel/oil mix you are turn ing DRY. After a couple of strokes it heats up enough to stick.

There is no "adjustment" there.

I had the head off and plenty of oil in the cylinder--many back and forth movements (with the wheel) got the piston free but never felt like any engine I ever built---hard and then smooth---cylinder looked good but I have no idea what the bottom of this engine looks like.

Engines are smooth and ruff or tuff to spin is a failure ready to happen.

jp

Run it, maybe you are going to blow up no. 3?