well,I was hoping to get through this without posting a questiion but I got the 24 stripped down and have found scoring on the exhaust side of the piston,I think the cylinder will survive,though. The rings were stuck in the grooves and broke when I attempted to remove them, so now there's a 2 inch piece of each left.Also the crankcase is full of carbon and crap,this saw was run without a proper air filter.So can I clean the crankcase without splitting it apart?If not, How do you get the crank bearings off, heat the case halves?And Best way to get these rings out? I'd like to try to save the piston,or should I just replace it?By the way I've been lurking here a long while and have learned a lot,but not quite enough!