Just bought an 0-235 c1B. It came out of a colt in 2002. Log book shows just over 1600 hrs TT. Appears to have been removed for power upgrade and that is what I was told by the old guy I bought it from who said he witnessed its removal when he owned an avionics shop back in the day (2002). Who knows for sure, but thats the story. No Prop strike he insisted. non recorded in log. OK, so its as removed, with both mags.... except carb was removed, as was the ring gear.

There was a thread from about a year ago that I followed. One thought that is prudent, is to consider it a core and rebuild it. The other, which is mine, is to determine if the engine is healthy and test run it statically. I have to buy a carb or use the new Rotec 40-3 tbi I have which sounds iffy compared to a $500 good used marvel schebler ma3pa. I also will replace the ignition wires, as they look rough and are consumable items.

So, is there a way to determine if the cylinders need honing without removing the pistons and rings, in which case, it would then have to be done? If there is a little rust in the cylinders (I haven't checked yet), can they be "cleaned up" with a hone or overbored to be good?
Is it necessary to break down the engine case to determine if the crank and camshaft are good or can I mount a dial indicator and verify that the crank is within tolerance and therefore ok. What must be replaced other than if there are AD items, since it sat for so long.

I'm not a mechanic. I built one auto engine conversion with lots of help and understand how to do some things in a more generic sense.
Please give me your experiences and opinions on apparently clean engines that have sat and whatever else you can to help me out.

Eric