Jacob,
Will you please elaborate on "It's all about inspecting the parts prior to installation with any of these aftermarket top ends".
Inspecting exactly what?
I plan on checking piston to cylinder wall clearances, squish, piston pin length / fitment, alignment of ports to muffler and carb, looking for any burrs on the mounting surfaces, etc. I don't know enough to spot any minor casting defects on the piston or borderline machine work to see a flaw when I'm looking at one.......something that may compromise longevity down the road.
This reviewer on Baileys found that the impulse port needed to made deeper than what came from the factory;
Only time will tell Posted by: JEFFREY L. from NY on 10/30/2010 Rating: My OEM cylinder was scored so, being short on funds I ordered this since it looked like a bargain. I compared it visually with the OEM cylinder and this is what I found: External finish was identical; it had the same casting lines, same cooling fin configuration, size etc. The ports seemed to be identical both in size, placement and finish although the casting lines were a bit more pronounced in this aftermarket unit. (I cleaned mine up with a Dremel tool.) Spark plug hole, threads and cover mount holes were all excellent...as good as OEM. Decomp valve was good but I didn't disassemble to see the machine quality. The spring and rivets were a little rough on finish but they function just fine. The honing cross-hatch marks in the cylinder were pronounced; definitely not as smooth as my OEM. It gave the cylinder a dull gray look...almost like it's not been chrome lined at all but there was a heavy film of oil on it. After doing some research I found this may be advantageous. A properly cross-hatch hone will aid in keeping the piston rings steady and will retain a film of oil aiding in lubrication. My saw is for milling so the more lube the better and it should prolong piston/cylinder life. The only thing that struck me as not up to par was the relief cut in the base of the cylinder for the impulse hole. It was shallow and crudely done. My OEM was crisp and much deeper. Again, I Dremelled out mine and was very pleased at how easily it improved. I never had an issue with chrome flaking when doing any Dremelling. Lastly, the piston. This one is "moly" coated and was better machined than my previous aftermarket one. It needed no "cleaning up" or de-burring whatsoever. A drop-in replacement. I found the wrist pin to be much thinner walled than OEM and the spring clips thinner too so, I reused mine. I wanted to keep the weight as close to original as possible. My reassurance to all the naysayers out there is: for the price of one new OEM setup I can replace this assembly 4 times over! 188 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes - See more at:
http://www.baileysonline.com/Chains...palces-1106-020-1211.axd#sthash.cDVY8CRP.dpuf