Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - To hone, or not to hone, on re-ring?

Galane · 11-06-2018, 08:16 PM

How my father did many engines over his life was to first use a ridge reamer at the tops of the cylinders, if there was a ridge that needed to be cut away. Can't get the pistons out if there's a ridge bad enough to catch the top ring.

Then after completely stripping the block he'd use a 3 stone hone with a 1/2" drill, using diesel fuel for lube. Have to keep it moving in and out while spinning it, going just past the top and bottom ends of the cylinders. Hone until the surface is fully scuffed. You're only removing at most a thousandth of an inch while leaving behind a surface that will wear in the edges of the rings for a tight sealing fit.

If you remove the pistons and put them back with the old rings, you won't get the rings back in precisely the same rotations and may end up with leakage past the oil rings and uneven compression.

When you install new rings you have to stagger the end gaps. Put them every 120 or 90 degrees or whatever works to make the longest path from gap to gap.

Some newer vehicles have some crazy durable metal in their engine blocks. I put rebuilt heads on a 2004 Dodge Dakota V8 and at 140,000 miles the factory crosshatch honing marks were still visible in the cylinders. In a GM or Ford smallblock V8 with that kind of miles the bores would be worn smooth with fine vertical wear lines all around.

When you rebuild an engine with new rings, crank, rod and cam bearings, it will take a while to break in. No high RPM operation for a while! Let it idle for a couple of hours and monitor the coolant temp. If it starts to heat up, shut it off and let it cool down, then run it again.

Then take the vehicle for a leisurely drive, keep it at 55MPH or slower. Gently does it for the first 500 miles and you'll not have problems. Always used a non-detergent oil for break in then drained and replaced with detergent Valvoline oil and a new filter.

Never failed for the hundreds of engines dad rebuilt for his vehicles and other people, as long as they didn't hit the dragstrip or racing on back roads before the engine was properly broke in.

Put a fresh engine together then treat it like you're racing (or you actually do go racing) and you're likely to have something go bad.

'Course for the high level drag racing where they pull everything out of the engine between runs it doesn't matter because with superchargers and nitromethane they come close to melting the pistons. They shove so much air and fuel through that blowby doesn't really matter, and if a bearing spins the dragster will be through the trap before the engine comes apart (usually). If the teams were allowed to just swap the whole engine from a ready supply of ones that have been carefully run in, there'd be very few that blow up.

11-06-2018, 08:16 PM	#17 (permalink)
Galane Master EcoModder Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: idaho Posts: 282 Thanks: 0 Thanked 96 Times in 74 Posts	How my father did many engines over his life was to first use a ridge reamer at the tops of the cylinders, if there was a ridge that needed to be cut away. Can't get the pistons out if there's a ridge bad enough to catch the top ring. Then after completely stripping the block he'd use a 3 stone hone with a 1/2" drill, using diesel fuel for lube. Have to keep it moving in and out while spinning it, going just past the top and bottom ends of the cylinders. Hone until the surface is fully scuffed. You're only removing at most a thousandth of an inch while leaving behind a surface that will wear in the edges of the rings for a tight sealing fit. If you remove the pistons and put them back with the old rings, you won't get the rings back in precisely the same rotations and may end up with leakage past the oil rings and uneven compression. When you install new rings you have to stagger the end gaps. Put them every 120 or 90 degrees or whatever works to make the longest path from gap to gap. Some newer vehicles have some crazy durable metal in their engine blocks. I put rebuilt heads on a 2004 Dodge Dakota V8 and at 140,000 miles the factory crosshatch honing marks were still visible in the cylinders. In a GM or Ford smallblock V8 with that kind of miles the bores would be worn smooth with fine vertical wear lines all around. When you rebuild an engine with new rings, crank, rod and cam bearings, it will take a while to break in. No high RPM operation for a while! Let it idle for a couple of hours and monitor the coolant temp. If it starts to heat up, shut it off and let it cool down, then run it again. Then take the vehicle for a leisurely drive, keep it at 55MPH or slower. Gently does it for the first 500 miles and you'll not have problems. Always used a non-detergent oil for break in then drained and replaced with detergent Valvoline oil and a new filter. Never failed for the hundreds of engines dad rebuilt for his vehicles and other people, as long as they didn't hit the dragstrip or racing on back roads before the engine was properly broke in. Put a fresh engine together then treat it like you're racing (or you actually do go racing) and you're likely to have something go bad. 'Course for the high level drag racing where they pull everything out of the engine between runs it doesn't matter because with superchargers and nitromethane they come close to melting the pistons. They shove so much air and fuel through that blowby doesn't really matter, and if a bearing spins the dragster will be through the trap before the engine comes apart (usually). If the teams were allowed to just swap the whole engine from a ready supply of ones that have been carefully run in, there'd be very few that blow up.