when you hone yor cylinders, I wanna stay stock. my 351w isnt bored at all. Do I need to worry about the wear ring at the top of the cylinders...
I've read several different things.. some rebuild books dont even mention it.
Anything I should know when rebuilding an engine would be helpful. (first rebuild)
Any tech advice?

 

Newer engins are made of tougher metals than days gone by. I have pulled pistons out of 120,000 mile engines that had very little ridge, and no measurable taper.

Within reason it is possible to pull the pistons and "bust the Glaze" with a hone.

On the other hand, if you are trying to reestablish a true new crosshatch it is possible to get the bores too big and the new rings will not seat or you end up with mild piston slap.

So pull out the book, find out the original bore, the max wear, and taper.

Push a piston down and do the finger nail test first at the vary top of the cylinder near the exhaust (outside of engine) to see if there is a very noticable raised ridge.

If you can scoot you nail up the bore and don't feel a ridge around the last 1/4 inch or so, then you can usually LIGHTLY hone the cylinders with no problem.

Of course measuring and recording all the measurments will always be the true test and if you got the inside micrometer out, you might as well check every bore.

Now about the "wear ring on top" or ridge, that is the original bore diameter, and if there the lager bore below it, that was caused by the piston rings wearing away the bore diameter.

If this ridge is sharp and pronounced you have a tough time getting the pistons out, then you need cut the ridge down with the proper tool.

If it is slight and the pistons came out very easily, AND you feel the taper is within the wear limits, then you can LIGHTLY hone the cylinders and ignore the ridge.

Last note... I never ever use the cheap flat stone method, buy or rent the proper sized Ball Hone and you might even consider training yourself on a junk block. On all my racing engines I get it done on a machine that can consistantly create the proper crosshatch. But with a couple of minuets training you can get close enough for a street engine.

 

Thanks a bunch,
the pistons came out pretty tough,
I'll have to borrow a micrometer, (its nice to have friends)
What do I use to take out that ring?

 

Of course machine shops use the big stuff but there is a thing called a Ridge cutter.

Basically a three of four fluted device that has a hardened cutting edge on one flute. Usually they are spring loaded and the top and bottom half held together with a bolt and can be adjusted up or down to make contact and only have about 1/2" diameter range. You would need a different cutter for 3 , 4 , or 5 inch holes.


Put the cutter in the hole, squirt some cutting oil (motor oil will work) adjust it fairly snug, lock the setting, put a 3/4 or 7/8 open end wrench on the turning boss, and turn it clockwise to cut the depth you set. You will only shave a couple of thousanths at a time and have to reset two or three times depending on the amout of ridge.

I have seen them for "rent" at Carquest machine shops. They basically make you pay the price of the tool (it will usually be used) and when you bring it back you get ALL your money back.

I have never seen them in a regular rental place.

 

Thanks a ton.
I'm not in over my head yet...but only cause I have alot of help.
watch for more posts you've been a huge help.

 

If there was very little ridge AND you already have the pistons OUT... do the measurements, and IF you decide that the numbers are OK, just bust the glaze with a Very Light honeing (good consistant patern on every cylinder.

You Can Ignore the ridge, it will have no effect on putting the pistons back in.

 

what happens if you put new piston rings in without honing the cylinders????

 

The rings wont seat and you will have low compression and poor oil control.

 

If you leave the ridge, the new rings will hit the lower edge of the ridge with the top (unworn) corner of the top ring. This MAY cause you to break your pistons as the ring will be forced lower in the groove than normal and could break the land.
EVERY thing I have read states this unequivocally. The good books also state that it can be hard on the pistons to force them out past the ridge. Most ridge reamers from rental shops have worn out blades, so you will spend a few years cutting away the ridge, and have blisters to prove it.
The better reamers will sit down in cylinder, and slowly move up the cylinder wall. The cheap, crumby ones will ride on the top of the block, and must be pushed down over and over as they tend to walk out of the cylinder.
I've been there a few times.... Get a good ridge reamer for less than $30 and save your block, cylinder wall and limbs from a lot of stress...

tom

 

some of you guys are a little confused.

if you intend on using the same sort of ring that originally came out of the engine, you only need to knock down the ridge if its more than .004 thousanths. there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to knock this ridge down if its under .004. this is assuming you have the same pistons going in the same holes.

centrifugal ridge reamers are not terribly expensive, and they can be rented from auto parts stores if you dont want to buy one. the blade doesnt have to be very sharp on these.

the most important thing to check here is the out-of-round and taper of your bore. its .005 and .010, respectively. if you exceed that, you should rebore the engine.