Hello All:

I reassembled the engine and ran it on a test stand. The first two runs were very good. Easy starting and NO black residue in the exhaust. As a matter of fact, there was no white smoke in the exhaust. ????? The third run began to produce a slight dark exhaust residue emitting from the exhaust. I removed the back plate and did not see any rub pattern on it. I removed all traces of prior contact with the rod from the back plate. This will aid me in monitoring any contact with the con rod. The con rod did not display any sign of contact with the crank disk. I will check again with the Prussian Blue trick when I get a chance.

The engine is much easier to hand start and the p&c fit seems to be good.

Many thanks to all who responded with help!

Be well my fiends,

Franchi