OK, I have not torn my old engine apart yet. But i looked into the exhaust ports and i can see the center of the apex seal, I cant see ofcorse the ends However I noticed that a few are Bent back and split, But not broke all the way. what can cause them to bend back like that? lack of oil?

 

the ATKINS SEAL FAILURE!
then you got cracks, i pulled one apart that looks like it hit the spark plug ( big chip in the middle). but what it sound like to me is that the seal was worn too much and just pushed out. ? unless the housing is flaked reral bad and the seal was catching and causing friction to bend it back! hey, that sounds familliar.

 

hmm, lets not forget the xploding seals,!!! detonation at 7800 rpm pegging the boost gauge at 15 psi will make seals xplod!!!