Hi Grumpy
Yeah I was thinking of doing the rings regardless of the condition of the bore. With that being said I can now justify the purchase of a Cylinder hone! Which can be used for this as well as my live steam projects! :-) Just need some rich benefactor to provide the capital for a boring head for the mill.
I have watched the oil consumption and it is not using any oil to speak of in the last year. I normally run it for about 10-15 min at a time.
As to the chemicals I think they are used mainly in the auto/truck engine re-con industry.