I finally got around to fixing my wife's spyder GS 4g64. She threw a rod 5 years ago. It started up fine first time but it's smoking...ALOT! I have very light oil in it because I wanted to be sure I could pump it into the oil pump to prime it. I used a cheapo manual siphon pump. I'll put heavier oil in it later. Anyway. I checked the compression and I have 165-165-165-170. I know it should be 185. With these compression readings, would the unseated rings be causing the smoking? I haven't driven the car yet because I'm waiting for a new cv axle.

 

valve stem seals

 

Hopefully you had the cylinders board out before you put it together. The rings are round where the cylinders are oval from wear n tear. Pre lubed and always the best oil pump is the thing to do here. I know from experience. The rings will not seat in a cylinder that has so much wear in them but remember...... NO REBORE NO RINGS.