Jonsereds 621 scoring on exhaust side.... thoughts?

[Rob Barnet]

Hello all! I have a nice old 621, still runs good! But I noticed that the compression(to the feel) seemed a bit low when pulling out the starter slowly.... I pulled the muffler and sure enough there is some scoring on the exhaust side, haven't gone into it much yet, but I ordered a set of rings.... any possibility that I can just clean up the cylinder and re-ring the existing piston and be ok? Thoughts? I am not looking to dump much money into it... I'd love to save the old thing, though!
I am assuming that the scoring is due to wear and years and years of use? Hoping I caught it before I burnt up the top end. You can't even tell there is a problem when using the saw(which I have stopped doing since discovering the scoring).
Thanks, and I appreciate any help.
, Rob

 

[MnSam]

Definitely worth trying to clean the piston and cylinder. You'll want to figure out why it's scored, an air leak would be the biggest concern. Pictures of the damage would help. There are some awesome folks here Jonsered Chainsaws.