Weld, it's not so much that new rings are made of unobtanium, they're actually pretty easy-to-obtainium.
I would rather just get the bike all back together and ride it for a few months, that's all. I'm approaching the Resurrection of this bike with my eyes wide open, that is, knowing I'm going to eventually have to touch every single part of the bike. If I can do some actual riding of the bike, that's the goal. I would like to ride it for a bit, keep dumping oil in it because the engine burns more oil than gas, then know I'm going to spend the winter overhauling the engine. Just what I'm planning for now. Obviously with a project like this, plans are absolutely subject to change.