School me on ball hones or which hone to use

4mulas · May 25, 2019

I want to re-ring a 020 over 383 and need to put a cross hatch on it.
What size ball hone IE: 4 1/4 or 4 1/2 Etc?
And what grit do I need?
What lube to use while honing and how wet or how often to lube the hone etc...
Or should I use one of those three bar units.

Any help is appreciated!

Lefty71 · May 25, 2019

Ball hone is the way to go. Pick the one that matches your bore size....it's already sized to put the proper tension on that particular bore. Here's a good source for them and many other engine builder tools; https://goodson.com/

I cant remember which grit you need for that application...prolly 240- or 320....I gotta go look.. I know it only takes seconds to get results, and I'd bet well less than a minute with the proper grit to break the glaze and put the crosshatch back. Just dunk in clean motor oil and go hone. HTH, Lefty71

4mulas · May 25, 2019

#Lefty71 So a 4 1/4” size then, it’s 4.27 inch right now as it’s 020 over size. I see lots of 80 and 120 hones. Not the finer grits you mention. Yes can you check and follow up? Thanks

zyzzyx · May 25, 2019

For honing oil, you can use Sulphur based pipe thread cutting oil cut with 30%
20 weight lube oil.

4mulas · May 25, 2019

Found infor that says 120 grit for cast rings and 240 for moly? Sounds reasonable?

happyjackdaddy54 · May 25, 2019

your making this harder than it needs to be. Use wd40 and let er rip! count your strokes and do the same for all of em All ya gotta do is break the glaze from previous rings

69Bee · May 25, 2019

I do this ALL of the time. I use 320 grit silicon carbide to deglaze cylinders. I put the block in the jetwash, spray the cylinders down with WD40, and reapply when necessary during honing. I then do 50 strokes per cylinder to clean them up. They do not change the shape of the cylinder like a rigid hone will because the balls flex and follow the cylinder walls. Stroke the hone to create a proper crosshatch. After I am finished with the cylinders, I wash it some more to clean, then take it out. What works for me is to wipe the cylinder down with a WATER soaked (wrung out) paper towel. I wipe a cylinder down with the towel, and blow it out with air to dry. I continue this until all of the cylinders are wiped down. Then I will use a paper towel sprayed with WD40 before I bag it for the customer. You can also use oil, but the trick to clean it up before the WD40/oil treatment is the wet paper towel. Here is a link to an explanation of the grit and grade for the hones:

https://goodson.com/blogs/goodson-gazette/choosing-the-right-flex-hone

4mulas · May 26, 2019

69Bee said:
I do this ALL of the time. I use 320 grit silicon carbide to deglaze cylinders. I put the block in the jetwash, spray the cylinders down with WD40, and reapply when necessary during honing. I then do 50 strokes per cylinder to clean them up. They do not change the shape of the cylinder like a rigid hone will because the balls flex and follow the cylinder walls. Stroke the hone to create a proper crosshatch. After I am finished with the cylinders, I wash it some more to clean, then take it out. What works for me is to wipe the cylinder down with a WATER soaked (wrung out) paper towel. I wipe a cylinder down with the towel, and blow it out with air to dry. I continue this until all of the cylinders are wiped down. Then I will use a paper towel sprayed with WD40 before I bag it for the customer. You can also use oil, but the trick to clean it up before the WD40/oil treatment is the wet paper towel. Here is a link to an explanation of the grit and grade for the hones:

https://goodson.com/blogs/goodson-gazette/choosing-the-right-flex-hone

Thanks for your reply, they seem to recommend 320 to just about everyone in their q&A section. I’ve seen a mixed bag of answers as to which grit for what ring etc. But that said I’m good to go with 320 too. It just may take longer in each cylinder which is also okay.

I was planning on doing things in the following order
-remove frost plugs and hot tank the block, clean, dry, and lube it.
-now the honing, I will start with 30-45 seconds with a well lubed (wd40) 320 hone
-will check and adjust from there
-then clean up as per your instructions as both, they sound reasonable and that’s what I was thinking too.
-file fit rings
-install rings on cleaned pistons (old pistons are still very good) and reassemble the motor.

Would like run engine brushes through everything too but maybe I should do thatjust before or just after the hot tanking, whatcha think here? Thanks

69Bee · May 26, 2019

I completely wash the block, and glass bead it (every plug needs to be removed first). If the customer only wants the cylinders deglazed, it goes back into the jetwash to hone as explained. Don't get too caught up with "this and that", just spray some WD40 in each cylinder, and make 50 strokes, that is it. If a cylinder is getting a little dry, just spray some more WD40 in it. There is no checking or adjusting, just spray and stroke 50 times. After honing all cylinders, wash, then wipe down s already explained. The last step is installing cam bearings, pipe plugs, and freeze plugs.

bm02tj · May 26, 2019

On cylinder bores I like to wash with soap and water until the suds stay white then rinse and oil
Some like to wipe with trans fluid until the rag does not collect anything
You can not be to clean

4mulas · May 26, 2019

Btw, is your 50 stroke method 25 in each direction totalling 50, or 50 in each direction totalling 100.

oldbee · May 26, 2019

Definitely around 300grit for moly rings, not sure of other type rings. Boy that bone sure lays a nice cross-hatch tho!

Lefty71 · May 26, 2019

Mines a #320 grit BRM Flex-Hone brand, BRH-GDB-41323 for mopar 440. Works very fast. As others have said, don't think too hard, consistency is key here. HTH, Lefty71

69Bee · May 27, 2019

4mulas said:
Btw, is your 50 stroke method 25 in each direction totalling 50, or 50 in each direction totalling 100.

In-out one, in-out two... This is just how I do it, it isn't rocket science. If it needs a few more strokes, then fine. Fifty strokes in and out seems to work best for me.

School me on ball hones or which hone to use

4mulas

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Lefty71

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4mulas

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zyzzyx

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4mulas

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happyjackdaddy54

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69Bee

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4mulas

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69Bee

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bm02tj

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4mulas

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oldbee

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Lefty71

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69Bee

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