[thsmrtone1]

so a few weeks ago, i blew ringlands... now, i have new pistons and rings coming in the mail within the next week or so...

my question is, i'm pretty sure it would be a good idea to hone and resurface the cylinder walls... is it possible to do this by myself? or do i have to take it to a machine shop...

i was thinking that they probably sold a bit that would fit on a drill and i could do it myself... can someone back me up on this?

 

[The_Acid_Beaver]

I just did this on an engine. Buy a Bottle Brush Hone, get an empty 2L bottle of soda, chop the stop off and pour in a quart of cheap ATF. Dunk the BBH into the ATF, start it spining (SLOWLY or you will get ATF all over the place and yourself), then Slowly insert the BBH, controlling the rotation and the oscillation (up and down) to produce a 60 degree cross hatch.

Look at these before and after pics. Doing it this way is almost impossible to screw up. I would recomend a 3" or 76MM BBH. It fits without forcing it and still puts enough pressure on the bore to get a good hone.

 

[thsmrtone1]

so where can i find the hone? autozone? lowes? and is it pretty much a drill bit or is it a complete tool? how much am i looking at?

 

[Sikocivic]

Take it to a machine shop. They charged my $50 to hone the cylinders and boil the block. It looked like brand new when I got it back.:TU:

 

[thsmrtone1]

Take it to a machine shop. They charged my $50 to hone the cylinders and boil the block. It looked like brand new when I got it back.:TU:

ya, except the motor is still in the car, and im not taking it out if i dont have to

so is it possible to not even have to hone the cylinder walls? or is it pretty much a must to hone the walls before i install new pistons and rings? what pros/cons come out of honing the walls?

 

[Chiovnidca]

so is it possible to not even have to hone the cylinder walls?

Honda says cylinders dont need to be honed, (using their rings) as long as they are straight, round and undamaged.

 

[BigTuna]

I just did this on an engine. Buy a Bottle Brush Hone, get an empty 2L bottle of soda, chop the stop off and pour in a quart of cheap ATF. Dunk the BBH into the ATF, start it spining (SLOWLY or you will get ATF all over the place and yourself), then Slowly insert the BBH, controlling the rotation and the oscillation (up and down) to produce a 60 degree cross hatch.

Look at these before and after pics. Doing it this way is almost impossible to screw up. I would recomend a 3" or 76MM BBH. It fits without forcing it and still puts enough pressure on the bore to get a good hone.

+1 Ball Hone FTW, Acid beaver the pic looks good but next time slow the rpm and increase the up down motion. That will give you the proper cross hatch angle. From the looks of the pic the cross hatches on your motor dont have alot of angle. I know its splitting hairs but just my 2 cents...

 

[The_Acid_Beaver]

No, I appreciate it. It was my first time doing it. I know it's not perfect, but it's way better than the bore was. (Well, duh, you can see that. heh) It wasn't hard to do, it just took some getting used to.

I bought the hone from eBay for ~$35 plus shipping. DO a search for "Flex hone" or "flexhone." That is the brand I used. It is an awesome product, and whoever the seller was shipped quickly.

 

[The_Acid_Beaver]

HEre you go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-En...015QQitemZ250072012090QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[RSMACHINES]

so a few weeks ago, i blew ringlands... now, i have new pistons and rings coming in the mail within the next week or so...

my question is, i'm pretty sure it would be a good idea to hone and resurface the cylinder walls... is it possible to do this by myself? or do i have to take it to a machine shop...

i was thinking that they probably sold a bit that would fit on a drill and i could do it myself... can someone back me up on this?

It is a must to hone your block, pistons rings get out of round over time, I would recommend taking its to a machine shop, give them the final bore numbers with the papers supplied in the piston that you ordered. Dont do a half ass job, you will be eating it in the end with a smoking motor and double the labor. Save your wallet the trouble and have a professional machine shop do the work for you. You can always send it to us if you like

 

[SOHCpower]

i didnt hone my cylinder when rebuilding and its still going good... i could still see the crosshatch. this was done at 110k miles and zc piston ringlands broke so i put my p2p pistons back in...

 

[RSMACHINES]

i didnt hone my cylinder when rebuilding and its still going good... i could still see the crosshatch. this was done at 110k miles and zc piston ringlands broke so i put my p2p pistons back in...

Well you lucky sir, but I'm not in favor of playing russian roulette. I would rather my customer have 100% satisfaction that thier motors were built 100%
correctly and not have to worry about any thing that we have done for them.

 

[SOHCpower]

yeah, the thing i guess worked out for me is that i knew the ringlands were gonna break lol, and when i saw smoke come out my valve cover vacuum lines and the car start to sound like a wrx due to loosing compression, i no longer ran the motor and pulled it apart. when i got the pistons out, the ringlands were cracked but not broken off until i put the piston on the ground, it came off. i checked the cylinder walls to see if there was any imperfections caused by this, and it looked the same as when i put the pistons in so i didnt worry about it.

but yeah it is suggested and recommended to hone, might as well while your motor is apart like that.

 

[thsmrtone1]

ok, so its recommended... where do i find one besides online?

 

[AMkrew_1]

It is a must to hone your block, pistons rings get out of round over time, I would recommend taking its to a machine shop, give them the final bore numbers with the papers supplied in the piston that you ordered. Dont do a half ass job, you will be eating it in the end with a smoking motor and double the labor. Save your wallet the trouble and have a professional machine shop do the work for you. You can always send it to us if you like

What kind of power hone do you guys use? I use a sunnen CK-10 on a regular basis; at least once a day. My boss, the owner of the machine shop I work at, tells me that a bottle brush can seal the rings on a motor VERY well, especially with thin rings ie: hondas, as long as the bore is round and square(lol).

I was very surprised at his comment, since there is such a HUGE difference in the "feel" of the cylinder walls between the two.

Have you noticed the same things, and what stones do you all use over there. We use the older aluminum oxide and silicon carbide, and not the newer diamond stones. Start with 525's, jump to 625's, then for hondas(and others with thin rings) jump to 820's.

I've also been hearing about the "plateau" honing methods, and was wondering if you guys subscribe to this method as well. Thanks.

-josh-

 

[97y7hatch]

the "ball" style of hone is MUCH better then the stone style. the stones are too straight and sometimes miss certain spots on the cyl wall (closer to the top where it getts a little egged) i used a stone style on my motor and wasnt happy with the results, so i borrowed a ball stle and it worked MUCH better.

and it is ALWAYS a GOOD idea to hone a cyl if you are putting in new rings. honing creates small scratches for the oil to sit in to keep the walls lubricated. not honing with the install of new rings/pistons is asking for trouble in the future.

not to mention honing is cheap and takes 10 min.

:wink:

 

[SOHCpower]

yeah but if u cant take the crank out the motor... aka if u got the block in the car, its harder to hone and not get metal bits in stuff.

 

[Chiovnidca]

yeah but if u cant take the crank out the motor... aka if u got the block in the car, its harder to hone and not get metal bits in stuff.

It's easy to hose off with some brake cleaner. Done it dozens of times.

 

[SOHCpower]

i see, that was also the part that turned me down from doing it. but the cyl walls didnt look like they needed it cause there was no glaze and the hatchings was still there.

 

[97y7hatch]

yeah but if u cant take the crank out the motor... aka if u got the block in the car, its harder to hone and not get metal bits in stuff.

with the rods and shit off there i hope he would be replacing the main bearings too, which would require removal of the crank.

and yes this can all be done with the block bolted in the car, although it would be a dickload easier just to remove it if your doing this extensive of work already.
:TU: