So we pulled the head off my brothers 53' Mercury tonight due to its recent habit of smoking. Car ran great and had between 95 and 125 psi on all cylinders. On the way to a show it developed some blow by, and comp test showed 30 psi on the #4 cylinder No worries though, its just a broken ring. Now heres what scared us when we opened the motor up. This is the #1 cylinder, that was at about 95 psi cold. This cylinder shows some serious pitting, possibly requiring a sleeve. Mind you this was a good strong running motor. We were prepared to replace the rings and bearings in the motor to freshen it up a tad bit, but have nowhere near the funding to have the block rebuilt. Im guessing that for pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets, valvetrain, and machine work, we're looking at about $1700 - $2000 if the cylinder doesnt needs a sleeve. What would you guys do? I know that slapping rings in this motor with pitting in this cylinder (even though this one had decent compression) would probably just be a bandaid, it was a thought. Needless to say, this was a major bummer.
Hone the cylinders to break the glaze, put in new rings and it will run just like it did before the ring broke. If it ran okay before you saw the pits, it will run okay after. Will prolly burn a little oil, just like it did. If cash is low, I'd run it. Sure won't hurt the block. Bill
How far is it bored right now? If you just put rings in it, and put it back together sooner or later you will be back to where you are now. I have two punched .125 and another to .188 over. They will usually go .125 with no problems, but if you hit a sand pocket you still can sleeve it. I have some 8ba cores but I haven't had time to tear them down. The last thing I would do is just put rings in it. Chuck.
I'd ring it and drive it. Then save your money for the machine work later, or keepan eye out for a replacement engine.
Me personally, I would scrounge for the cash to do a proper rebuild while it's out. I say you are asking for trouble putting fresh rings and a hone job in a bore that looks like that. break out the bore gauge and see how much the cylinders are worn too. I'm thinking you will get some pretty bad blow by, rings that won't seat and my break again. you can pick up a set of 3 5/16 or 3 3/8 pistons for that motor fairly cheap. check everything else out and save what you can.
The pitting in the cylinder wall will not be cured with new rings. I had a engine that had a head gasket leak over the winter and rusted the cylinder up a little worse than that. Tried the quick bandaid cure but nothing but problems even after new rings and a quicky hone cleanup. Yours is not as bad so you might keep it alive for a while with just a new set of rings, over a period of time you will consume oil, run with a little smokescreen and the plug will run oily. If you want to low buck repair it and only occasionally use your car or just drive to the local shows you can get away with backyard mechanics by honing the cylinder and just replacing the rings. If you really use your car for long distance treks a rebuild is probably a good idea.
Marty - call Bud at Bud's Machine down in Lakewood. He has been building motors for 45+ years, and he might know a trick or two to limp the old girl on for a few months until the Rev can scratch together enough $hekels for a rebuild. If that doesn't work... he's a good machinist and will work with you on pricing.
I had a banger that had some pitting on what otherwise looked to be a good bore. Pulled all the pistons and broke out the bore gauge. I was suprised all 4 were within .001 for size top to bottom , .001 for roundness and about .002 for size bore to bore. I honed the bores and put in new rings and it runs great with no blow by . you may see some pressure loss but if you look at it only a small percentage is pitted. Sure a rebore or a sleeve and bore may be best but like others have said it may not fit your wallet. If the bores are round and straight I say hone and put in new rings
Don't be bummed...that's not so bad. Found a bit of this in the cylinders of my 261 Chevy six I recently bought. I'm no expert, but I talked with a lot of people about this, including guys here on the hamb. The general consensus I got, even though a few said, "Oh...you've got to bore it!", was that you can definitely get away with honing and new rings, as long as the bore isn't too far out from spec. I don't see a ridge there, and I don't know the history of your engine...such as if someone previously cut the ridge, and honed it. I imagine this is the first time you've looked inside the engine...pits like that are usually due to an engine sitting for a long time, with condensation buildup...it's rust-pitting. But as B Blue said, if it ran good without too much smoking before the ring broke, then it'll be ok after you hone and ring it. Especially if you're working within a really limited budget...and that's understandable...I'd go for it. Is this the extent of the pits? If that's all there is, notice that the ones toward the middle of the bore are quite small, and won't cause a problem. The deeper ones are localized to those couple of small spots at the top of the bore. Now, if the deeper ones extended down into the bore, there'd be more of a chance for it to cause some blow-by...but as it is, there really isn't a "path" down the side of the bore to the crankcase. The only thing that'll really happen, is a very tiny bit of "oil-hang"...oil remaining in the low spots, and consequently getting burned of with combustion. That limited bit of pitting certainly doesn't have much to do with the low compression reading. You even said that it was the #1 cylinder with the low compression, and that had the broken ring...and this cylinder had 95 lbs. Many guys with way more experience than me said that it's much more important to make sure the valves are seating correctly, and that the valve-guides are good. But the valve-guide condition is even more of an issue on an overhead engine than a flathead, considering that overheads tend to suck oil through them easier. BTW...I haven't put my 261 together yet, so as far as I'm concerned, it still has to be proven-out to be sure...but my 235 six ran great, with no oil-burning after just a hone and rings...it didn't have any pitted cylinders though.
I know of a few good runners around the area. If you want to get another motor in it for the time being.
There are risks as pointed out...but IF the thing was running well, IF valves and the bearings you took out look good, there is little at risk in putting it back together and seeing what happens. You'll only be a few dollars and hours behind if it has to come back out in a worst case scenario. Obviously a total overhaul is better, but if that wasn't in your plan or checkbook, give it a try. BUT...with broken rings in a pitted cylinder, and pits extending down into ring travel area, be DAMNSURE there isn't any RAISED metal around the pits. You should be able to spot any such problem with a prelininary pass of the hone, but put in a little time passing a ring over the area to feel out any roughness. Any localized repair will produce results inferior to a total overhaul, but if you cannot immediately go for perfection, study the tradeoffs (If, for instance, cylinder had significant taper, reringing would be a stupid waste of time) and the degree of possibility of immediate failure. Ford of course always suggested rebuild/exchange...but in deference to a relatively poor and frugal time period, they carefully specified the maximum clearances, tapers, and such that were in an acceptable risk range for a cheaper repair. Here, you have at least the knowledge that the cylinder held compression and the engine ran well before, so you just need to be real sure you do not overlook the possibility of a continuing cause for the breakage.
If thats the only bum cylinder, get it sleeved and sized the same as the others. You won't have to buy a new piston, just rings. I had mine done and it wasn't that pricey. The machine shop charged 100.00 for the sleeve and another 100.00 to install and size. After that I was out gaskets and one set of rings. Call around on the machine work, might be cheaper than you think.
If it ran, then it ran, i'd probably throw it back togather 'till i could fix it right, On the other hand it shouldnt cost too much for a set of slugs and a bore, any shop should be able to do that, and it's winter, and you are already into it a head gasket
Yeah, you will just get another broken ring, see what Darel at Haggens in Puyallup will do the one hole, sleve it and your good to go, no need to waste a good block!!! .......Roach.
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