I have a few questions on honing. I have light surface rust in a couple of cylinder bores and trying to decide weather to go with a ball hone or a 3 stone. If the you choose the ball hone what grit? What hone brand do you recommend? Also can anyone offer strategies/techniques for hand honing. Thanks Again.

 

This is one of those instances where a picture is worth a thousand words. One person's definition of "light surface rust" may be someone else's definition of "FUBAR." "Surface rust" could be light enough to be cleaned up with 600 grit sandpaper by hand or it could be bad enough to make a trip to the machine shop advisable.

Assuming that it needs more than sandpaper to clean up and if the block was previously torque plate honed you obviously don't want to disturb the surface any more than necessary. Personally, I choose a ball hone for a bench/solvent tank hone job. Brush Research Manufacturing, Inc. <www.brushresearch.com> markets a line of flex-hones that I've used in the past. It will be much more forgiving than a three-stone hone. If it takes more than a couple of passes with a very fine grit, very low pressure ball hone, I would seriously consider taking it to a professional.

My engine stand is tall enough to roll the bare block above the solvent tank to catch the drips. Using solvent (or your favorite honing lubricant) in an oil can for easy squirting into the hone is another strategy that has worked for me. I would be careful not to make more than enough passes to clean out the rust. Don't go for cleaning out the stain left by the rust. You just want to remove the "surface" part and flush out the residue.

Afterward, redo the complete block wash routine with hot soapy water and a cold water rinse. Spray it down with WD-40 until you're ready to assemble. Then, as the last step, before assembly, wipe down the walls with clean, non-linty rags and acetone. Keep wiping until the towel comes out showing no signs of rust, oil or other residue.

Good luck.

 

For "light surface rust" I mean I could spray on WD40 and wipe some of the rust off. The bore for the most part is pretty clean. As for the BRM hone, what material do you recommend?(abrassive,SC, AO,BC...etc) and What grit? I'll try and post some pics on the rust later today. Thanks Again.

 

If you're not satisfied with the results of 600 sandpaper sprayed with WD-40 (wiped with a motion around the bore, not up and down), I'd call Brush Research tomorrow morning and ask their opinion. For my part, I'd go with their recommendation for the lightest, least abrasive medium that will get the job done. Again, you won't get all the stain out and you certainly won't remove any pits that may have formed but you really don't need to do that. All you can hope to do is get rid of the surface oxidation and get the residue out of the bore. Examine it with a bright light and a magnifying glass (as well as you can) and you'll probably see tiny pits in the wall. Just get rid of the loose stuff and it will probably be fine. It's a judgement call.

 

Thanks for the help.