ok i bought a junkyard sbc 350 for the block got it home and on the stand to break it down well i pulled the heads found oil in two cylinders no biggie junk heads i flip it over and pull the pan to discover the end caps have been stamped numbered, upon closer inspection the pistons are basically new and i can still see the paint on the rod and main bearings so i pull the pistons and crank look at the bearings a couple of the rod bearings look as though some foreign material got between the bearing and journal no scaring on the crank just the bearing everything measured fine as for the crank clearances are good. my question is would it be ok to reuse the rings because it looks like the cylinders just need a light honing there is no ring groove and the rings are in very very good shape. i just think whoever rebuilt it just didn't keep things clean or didn't bother to have the block washed.

 

I would always be safe than sorry! unless you don't wanna spend the money on new rings,if they look good, use them. But I would just replace them anyway to avoid having to go back into the block again if they just so happen to have been bad.