Thanks for that, your dead right. Half the reason to go straight for the rings was to se the general condition of the engine as well. Should have done a compression test first as the bores, rings and big ends were fine. The piston rings were second oversize and I would say it had a short engine not that long ago. Still new rings and bearings didn't hurt and the rockers were shot to bits. Unfortunatley I still have really bad white smoke on start up and now a very serious vibration when under load; sounded like pinking to start but now feels like a vibration (almost like a UJ has gone).
Can diesels pink like a petrol; the only thing left that I havent looked at is the injector pump as I have also now replaced the injectors (bargain on ebay).
Never done anything with diesels before (lots of v8 and series though); is it possible to check the injector pump timing without the specialist tools for lining up the flywheel and injector pump? Any other ideas what it might be; seems a shame to admit defeat and take it in to the garage (not to mention the labour)!
Many thanks in advance
Martin