Cylinder Honing

[jharp08]

Is cylinder honing a diy? Doesnt seem like it would be impossible to do. I want to do rods sometime in the future and while i am at it i would want to do the rings. Is this out of realm of doing unless your a machine shop. TIA

[bigblue]

Did in last year in the middle of winter in the garage... just did it this year for a camaro motor in the garage. easy enough

[Turbavanttro]

you can do the honing yourself with a decent honing tool. some say use a torque plate, others say its not needed. Either way you choose, just hone until a proper criss-cross pattern is honed into the cylinder walls. if you're doing rings yourself, make sure you do your homework. thats a bit more techical than honing IMHO

Make sure you get everything well cleaned before doing any assembly.

[Audi Skate Snow]

Tq plate is only if you are boring. Honing is a quick deglaze of the cylinder walls. Bascially re-creates the cross hatch patter on the cyl walls which is what files the rings and helps them seal or "break in".

It is an easy DIY if you are mechanically inclined. Get yourself a good ball hone and do a few slow passes followed directly by fast passes straight up and down. It is a process but if you take your time drop in rods are fairly easy to do.

[Haenszel20v]

http://www.brushresearch.com/faq.php

don't use the crappy autozone stones, buy a proper ball hone.

[Dirty]

[jharp08]

yea i didnt think it would be that tough the rest of the operation would be much more difficult just wanted to see if a bunch of ppl told me to just bring it to a machine shop.. Now my second question or more like what i plan on doing unless i get a thousand dont do its. I want to do all of this without pulling the motor.

[Rausch]

Pull the motor. It will be a lot easier and you'll save more time doing it out of car.

[jharp08]

i dunno i've never pulled my motor just seems like it would be easier to keep it in there kinda scared of pulling it but i guess i could do my clutch if i pulled it ... rather not tho

[Rausch]

If pulling your motor scares you than i don't think you'll have the capability of rebuilding an engine.

[Turbavanttro]

Tq plate is only if you are boring. Honing is a quick deglaze of the cylinder walls. Bascially re-creates the cross hatch patter on the cyl walls which is what files the rings and helps them seal or "break in".

all due respect (because i generally agree with you), one very trusted resource here on AZ whom will remain unnamed told me he wouldnt hone without using a torque plate. this was a very recent conversation. i was very surprised by the statement, but anyhow, that said, i happen to personally agree with you, a honing tool should not be removing any significant amount of metal from the cylinder wall unless the user is way too over ambitious ....

[Scotty@Advanced]

[QUOTE=Turbavanttro;6171832][QUOTE=Audi Skate Snow;6171343]Tq plate is only if you are boring. Honing is a quick deglaze of the cylinder walls. Bascially re-creates the cross hatch patter on the cyl walls which is what files the rings and helps them seal or "break in".

all due respect (because i agree with you in concept) one very trusted resource whom will remain unnamed told me he wouldnt hone without using a torque plate. i was very surprised by the statement, but anyhow, that said, i happen to personally agree with you, a honing tool should not be removing any significant amount of metal from the cylinder wall unless the user is way too over ambitious ....

There are two types of honing discussed here... Glaze breaking which is the do it yourself opeartion that removes glaze and minor scratches, not deck plate required.

There is also power honing which is done by a very precisely controlled set of stones done when enlarging the bore for over sized pistons or after an overbore. A deck plate, should be used, and it is not a DIY operation.

[Haenszel20v]

As Scott says..... DIY honing is so non-precision that a torque plate is not necessary. You're running a quick abrasion to create what essentially equates to sandpaper on the cylinder walls. C'mon, you're a dude with a bunch of beads on a drill.

Power honing requires a $100,000 machine and is VERY precision and should be treated the same as boring, with a deck plate(although this is highly argued with our cast iron blocks also).

[jharp08]

its not that it necessarily scares me it just seems unecessary when i wouldnt have to go through all that hassle .. if my motor was leaking all over the place and needed all of that nonsense then i would pull it and replace every gasket on the motor just dosent seem like its worth the hassle .. and i wont lie i've never rebuilt an engine .. but i know that i can do it .. i've seen it done hundreds of times and have helped do it since i was young my father has a construction business and i've seen him rebuild bulldozers with big ass caterpillar diesels in the middle of 70 acre fields with vines creeping up on them. He would help me out or atleast let me pick his head if i needed it

[Rausch]

its up to you how you do it. just makes more sense to pull it.

[Rausch]

ill also agree that if you just ball honing a cylinder and just putting a cross hatching back for the rings to seat then no need for a torque plate. just make sure to use some sort of lubricant on the ball hone like WD40 or equivalent.

[Haenszel20v]

pull the motor. The subframe is WAY in teh way on these cars, if it was a golf/jetta then I'd leave it in. But having done many in both, its 100% worth it to not have to deal with teh oil pan/clearance issues on the longitudinal setups.

[jharp08]

i didnt plan on using a torque plate i was just going to use a drill with a honing bit at about 1500 rpm and make a couple paces from each direction ... raucsh why do u think it makes more sense to pull the motor .. i would love to do so it would be a great pulling the motor just for confidence reasons

[diagnosticator]

Is cylinder honing a diy? Doesnt seem like it would be impossible to do. I want to do rods sometime in the future and while i am at it i would want to do the rings. Is this out of realm of doing unless your a machine shop. TIA

The correct cross hatch must result on the cylinder walls, or the rings won't seat right. It takes some practice to get a feel with the honing tools to do the job properly. Use another engine to practice with first. Don't use one of those ball hones, that type of hone will cut the cylinder out of round. Use only the three parallel stone type of hone, as that type will cut a much straighter and rounder cylinder wall. Make sure to avoid over honing, or the cylinders will be cut to large. Wash the cylinders with hot water and dish soap after honing, until a white cloth with motor oil rubbed on the cylinder walls stays clean with no sign of honing debris.

[jharp08]

i have access to a lift .. but if the subframe is in the way then thats balls

[Rausch]

for the reason haenszel20v mentions.

[jharp08]

guess ill have to pull it