creia wrote:
Brian- When you put in new rings did you always hone the bore as well?
Only in the case of:
A) Cross Hatch gone (Cast Iron/Steel Bore only) - Never honed an aluminum bore. (Well, I did once, but never again - that engine lasted all of 10 minutes...), or
B) To touch up light scoring or after reaming out a ridge (Which USUALLY was just heavy carbon crust , if there was still cross hatch visible)
Or did it matter how much of the previous cross hatching was still visible? It is my understanding that when installing new rings your are ALWAYS supposed to hone the bore?
Michael
If there's visible cross hatching in the bore, chances are the bore is close to original spec anyway, no? The primary purpose of the cross hatching is to help the rings rotate and seat, which helps with oil control... If I could see cross hatch all the way around, no reason to hone (Unless it appeared to be glazed - which meant a mirror-like surface with cross hatch pattern UNDER a glassy cover - I'm talking appearance, not actual glass)
- If I could see where spots of cross hatching were worn away, I might do some bore measuring, and from there it was a judgement call based on the particular engine, application, and customer wallet - I'd usually recommend reboring and OS piston & rings in those cases where warranted , but sometimes customer wanted it to last just another year or two, which again depending on the actual situation, I might agree with them but not offer any warranty on my work. Often enough the engine lasted them better than 5 years down the road (and I know of one that is still running on a regular seasonal basis 30 years later! - runs a hay elevator)
With Aluminum or Kool-Bore, I would NEVER hone - with cast iron or steel sleeve, I'd only hone if it looked like it needed a cross hatch touch-up (as in the aforementioned 30 year engine)
- often enough a honing could correct a slightly worn/tapered bore (with a little more honing on the small end and less on the big end, and a final cross hatching final pass) and always washed bores (Even aluminum/kool-bore) with hot soapy water and rinsed and dried - Hot water opens up pores of metal so soap can flush out any small tiny particles of dirt/carbon/debris/honing dust/etc.. then scrub out with a clean oiled rag.
So, if there was cross hatching present , and bore and block otherwise clean, good piston and stuff still in spec, I'd have no problem with just throwing in a new ring set with no honing needed.
How poor are they who have not patience. What wound did ever heal, but by degrees? - Iago (Othello Act II, Scene 3)