Hi All well kinda back to my old problem - oily plugs - also carbon and black plugs - took a compression look kinda bad 90 - 125 psi hate to tear it completly down - thinking about doing a cross hatch and new rings ,with motor in car - any thoughts Thanks
When I take my time and do it right I never regret it down the road. When ever I do a hack job it all ways comes back and bites my ***.
Hamber 3spd just did an early nailhead Buick that would not stay running. His had stuck rings, and without a garage or lots of tools, he got it fixed. You won't know until you check the ridge and see if you have stuck rings. Not every hotrod build needs a 5k rebuild.
Forgot to mention the motor only has about 5000 miles on it may have washed the rings down on break in - motor has a lot of carbs Thanks
fresh multicarbed mill? Whichever way you go-do whatever you can to go single carbed until it's fully broken in. I'm a FIRM believer in this method for awesome ring seal, and haven't had one take a powder on me yet. My friends have become believers each time they try it. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm rick
Trying to keep the cost down - seems like you could hone and cross hatch the bores with the motor in the car - has anybody had luck with this
Years ago I did it, I even put a new crank in a Buick Riviera once. If you are careful and do a good job of clean-up, you can do it. If you change the rod bearings, make sure you get the rods aligned.
"back in the day" it was more common for engines to be rebuilt in the car than out of them. And not just ring and hone jobs either, full rebuilds. In fact, many larger diesel engines are still done this way. So, its possible. Although, I don't really see why leaving it in the car saves money. It will be much easier to work on if its on a stand, and if you're going to hone the cylinders you're going to have to tear it down to a bare block anyway. It will be a lot easier to drop the pan and remove the crankshaft on a stand than it will be in the car, and it will be MUCH easier to install all the crank and rod bearings if you're not laying under the car in a puddle of oil...
I have done it many times. It works really well on My old 1940,s tractors they only have about 4 to 1 compression ratio. Rings Rod bearings gasket,s . If it not badly worn the bores are not scored or pitted and the pistons check out. A ring overhaul can work fine. I used to operate a 1955 year model 3T D7 Cat. It had a rake blade on it and was used in land clearing piling & burning timber. Every couple of years it would start burning oil. The fine ashes & dust would get into the engine even with the best air cleaner and precleaner. So It got a new set of rings. Head gaskets & rings nothing else. And IM talking a 24 to 1 compression diesel. The black caterpillar sleeves where so hard there wasnt any ring groove. A hone wouldnt do a thing to the cyl walls. So We used a wooden plunger covered in felt soaked in battry acid with two wires attached to a 12 volt battery to electrically etch the cyl walls. Those rings where crome and very hard to get them to seat. Once they just didnt seat so the owner( a old Guy near eighty) had me push around a rake blade big load of timber. He had a can full of very fine air cleaner dust that he s****ed in to the intake . It worked and the rings seated. Another old guy I knew wouldnt use anything but cast iron rings, His theroy was the cast rings wouldnt wear the block and you could re ring a dozen times between rebores. A badly worn engine just reringed can use more oil than before. Just depends on the amount of wear & and the cleanlyness and skill of the mechanic. OldWolf
For an in car hone, wrap the crank throws with tape to keep the solvent and crud out of the oil p***ages. The old guys did this all the time. Multi carbs look cool, single four barrels work good. I also break in a new flat tappet cam with the old valve springs, then change to the whopdy do springs at about two hundred miles.
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