I have a 259 poly that was machined a few years ago .030 and new pistons, you get the drill. well the cyl walls are super smooth and some people said i need to hone them to get the rings to seat. well i dont know what kind of rings they put in it so im not sure what to do. Do i use the ball hone? or the flat stone? or what? there is a tiny bit of rust on the top of a few cyl how should i knock that down. i hope the pictures give an idea
I use the ball hone, soak it in fresh oil beforehand and use lots while honing. Spin on high and run in and out at a pretty good rate to get a crosshatch. Might be other thoughts on the subject but thats what I do and have had good luck.
I like tool mans idea. I work on diesel engines a lot and we use ball hones. The flat hone would be a good idea to get the rust out. Then use the ball hone to make cross hatches.
I heard the ball hone may be the way to go. maybe ill use the flat to get the rust out. For the ball hone do i just use the regular motor oil or maybe tranny fluid? How many passes should i make through a cyl? just a few? Im not sure how much cross hatch i want to put in it. thanks
Dont go crazy on it, 5-10 passes up and down should be enough with newly machines cylinders, I use motor oil, seems to work fine for me.
X2, ball hone only! (does not reshape hole) and tranny fluid makes excellent cutting/drilling/honing/penetrant fluid.
Use the ball hone and you should have no problems with the rings seating You will have a problem with the grit left behind by the ball hone. Get all, and I cannot emphasize all strongly enough, of the residue & grey film off of the cylinders and block. That residue is a big ring, ring land and bearing killer. We used the old and extremely effective soak hot tanks with caustic solution and when a block was pulled out that had not had the cylinders properly cleaned after honing there would be grey residue on the rag when the cylinders were wiped. After honing wipe the cylinders of the heavy stuff then spray the cylinders with CRC or WD-40 and wipe with a clean towel until the wipes show no residue. I to this day soak a lint free paper towel in lacquer thinner and wipe each cylinder before assembly...not so good for my hands but I am too thick in the head to wear thin gloves.
Thanks guys so the ball hone should take care of little rust and rings and not even use the hone with stones.
On any cylinder that has been run, use the ball hone. It will follow the wear tapers and leave the cross thatches even in the taper. They are pretty much fail proof!
Bumping this - I have a fresh block that was honed and ready for assembly. It sat for a while and some surface rust has appeared in spots in the cylinders. What grit ball hone should I use to freshen this up before assembly?
No one addressed this but, you DO have to pull the pistons out of the block to do this! Don't try to do it with it together or it will have problems very shortly after starting.
i use kerosene for a hone lube also I was tought to use engine oil to clean cyl. wall also use duct tape to tape up rod journals on crank[ask how i know oh you can hone the crank too]
I get to deal with this issue, I have to go thru the engine in my 55 chevy. I'm planning to take it to a machine shop so they can use a rigid hone, and give it a quick cleanup and plateau finish, like it had before. I run plasma ceramic rings in it. if you're using moly filled rings, you want a pretty smooth finish. If you're using plain iron rings, then maybe not so smooth would be good. Plain rings would be better in an engine that has some wear in the bores. moly if the bores are in good shape.
The OP says "I have a 259 poly that was machined a few years ago"... Although Chrome ring sets are hard to fine these days, what was used 'a few years ago'? If the rings happen to be chrome then a smooth, lite hatch finish is needed. And as mentioned, the engine really needs to be stripped down and properly cleaned after the hone work is finished. .
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