Ball hone advice.

[Schurkey]

"I" would be concerned about grit getting onto/into the crank.

Shield it well...

[Krooser]

"I" would be concerned about grit getting onto/into the crank.

Shield it well...

Me too... if I have to I'll pull the crank. I have this engine sold once I get it repaired I'd really like to get it out of my hair...

[David Redszus]

Test the effect of muriatic acid on cast iron before you use it.

[GARY C]

Ball hones are really only good for changing the texture of the bore surface for easier ring seating ,they can not correct or alter a bores geometry.
If you have a scuffed piston out of the bore you are servicing, it may have left a rub or slight distortion that only a rigid hone can correct.

Scuffing can also leave a metal transfer on the bore wall that only a rigid hone will clean off. I have know people to get into a bore with abrasive paper etc to clean up metal transfer then ball hone ,all they have done is make it look good , how accurate the bore is is another matter.

Cheers.

I did a tailgate hone on a 327 block to clean up a bad cylinder, it made a really good egg shaped tapered cylinder. Then I payed to have it sleeved.

[GARY C]

That looks like rigid hone territory. Try a bit of muratic acid on a swab to get the aluminum off. neutralize the area with some caustic soulution. Get rigid hone fired up and clean up the cylinder. If the hole cleans up in a couple thou it will be ok. If not, well that's what machine shops are for.

This^^^^ followed with this 400 sandpaper procedure below. Use the muratic acid to remove the aluminum and try the 400 paper first to see if you can avoid resorting to the rigid hone. If you can get a reasonable wall surface using just the acid and sandpaper you might get what you need without making the hole any bigger.

With a spring loaded three-legged trapezoid type “glaze breaker” hone put duct tape sticky side out over the stones (do a good job of securing the tape behind the stones) and use 400 wet-or-dry paper to polish the cylinders. Put the paper in the cylinder first and let the hone expand into it so the paper sticks to the duct tape. If the cylinder is large, a sheet of paper may have to be cut in half and the haves offset to get full coverage on all three stones. The two pieces have to be overlapped the right direction so they don’t act like a sprag. One way they trail and turn easily and the other they wedge up and jam. Use a ¼ or 3/8 drill motor and trickle water from a hose while you polish. WD 40 is OK but it’s messier and you have to wash with water in the end anyway. A trickle of water flushes the trash away and the paper doesn’t load up as quick. Stroke up and down to generally follow the existing cross-hatch scratches. If you have the patience for it, follow the 400 with 600 and 1000 paper. Naturally, you have to be careful not to tear the paper or let the stones touch the wall and scratch it. I don’t think the walls can be made smooth enough.

400 paper will polish the walls and achieve the “plateau finish” that has been the subject of a lot of mumble over the years and won’t remove enough material to eliminate the crosshatch marks of the stone hone job so there will still be enough oil to keep the “don’t make it too smooth” crowd happy. The surface of the moly ring is full of microscopic fractures that are where the oil molecules hang out, so the wall doesn’t have to be rough.

This is the exact process that Glidden and the every other Pro Stock engine builder I know are using with the ultra tiny, super thin rings with PVD-Moly face. Most stop with the 600 grit paper. Most hard core SS/ and Stocker racers have done this for as long as I can remember. We abandon it for a long time but came back to it when it proved to be better in testing. Its funny how things come full circle. The penny trick I have not heard of. I will try that.

Very interesting, David Vizard does a long pain staking final clean on his bores with house hold green scotch bright and oven cleaner, I have often thought about using the scotch bright and a 3 stone hone because I am to lazy to hand scrub bores for hours on end.

[sanfordandson]

"I" would be concerned about grit getting onto/into the crank.

Shield it well...

Me too... if I have to I'll pull the crank. I have this engine sold once I get it repaired I'd really like to get it out of my hair...

It thought it was bad when you said you were going to attempt this half assed fix. Then I see you are going to SELL it to somebody afterwards.....

[GARY C]

"I" would be concerned about grit getting onto/into the crank.

Shield it well...

Me too... if I have to I'll pull the crank. I have this engine sold once I get it repaired I'd really like to get it out of my hair...

It thought it was bad when you said you were going to attempt this half assed fix. Then I see you are going to SELL it to somebody afterwards.....

True That! Fix it right or sell it like it is!

[hoodeng]

The 'Darin Morgan' and 'tuner's' comments apply to a bore that is know to be correct,true and stable ,their advice is in regards to bore texture finish only, the use of a spring loaded three leg hone will not identify nor correct dimensional anomalies.

The posted bore has been subject to a heat condition that has already trashed the piston , a bore gauge will show up ,out of round, taper and barrel ,but will not show up wave [unless it is a stylus in a boring machine or similar ] ,a few passes of a rigid hone is the best show and tell i have ever seen in conjunction with accurate measurement .

The block indicated may well clean up with minimal passes and minor stock removal , i have seen oil film breakdown damage that looked like kiss of death to the eye clean up with little effort ,,but i had to make that effort in the first place.

cheers.

[Krooser]

"I" would be concerned about grit getting onto/into the crank.

Shield it well...

Me too... if I have to I'll pull the crank. I have this engine sold once I get it repaired I'd really like to get it out of my hair...

It thought it was bad when you said you were going to attempt this half assed fix. Then I see you are going to SELL it to somebody afterwards.....

Before you jump to conclusions you should ask for details...

The potential new owner knows exactly what's going on...he has detailed photos of the engine in it's present condition. He will also know of the repairs that are done and has the right to nix the deal.

He wants the engine for a 70's vintage Mopar show car that won't see 1000 miles per year.

If I can't get that cylinder right I'll offer it to him as-is or I'll keep it. It only has 18,000 miles on it.... It would be a good transplant for my '97 Ram.

[rebelrouser]

Have patched up nitrous engines that have left aluminum on the bores, muriatic acid, some baking soda water, couple passes with a ridged hone, final with a fine ball hone and it worked fairly good. A few scratches don't bother me as long as the cylinder is free of taper and is still round. Of course drag racing is short bursts of high rpm and low mileage, may not compare to having an engine last many miles. But the cylinders I did leaked fairly good with a leak tester. I would recommend a leak test after you get the head bolted on, as a way to test your work.