Pieces of steel in cylinder??

Could it possibly be some thing like radiator allumiseal dumped in the crank case? For some evil reason? I once knew a fellow that poured K&W block seal in his crank case because well it was block seal! He didn't read the instructions. It locked that motor up tighter than a nuns cunt.

This is the kind of thing was thinking. Chemistry, as cool as it is, can be a real *****. See the posts about low melting temp alloys.

Still I think @George Jets is likely right.

Occam's (SP?) razor says that all things being equal, the solution is probably the simplest one.