Oil in the #4 combustion chamber!

[Sluggo]

Just got a honing tool & ring compressor. I'll be re-using the P&Cs & just replacing the rings. Was gonna get all new but the man with the deals only had 1700cc sets. Can't shell out an extra $300 right now. Still need to find a garage or driveway. Mine slopes back & to a steep left so there's no way.

Anyone got any tips on honing cylinders? I'll be using Colin's dishsoap suggestion.

[tristessa]

Driveway I've goot, though it isn't teh smoothest in the world. mostly flat, more-or-less level, and there's an O'ReillyAuto across 82nd.

When're you looking to do this?

[Amskeptic]

Just got a honing tool & ring compressor. I'll be re-using the P&Cs & just replacing the rings. Was gonna get all new but the man with the deals only had 1700cc sets. Can't shell out an extra $300 right now. Still need to find a garage or driveway. Mine slopes back & to a steep left so there's no way.

Anyone got any tips on honing cylinders? I'll be using Colin's dishsoap suggestion.

Get a pail to hold the cylinder in a little soapy water at the bottom.
You MUST get your RPM correct on the drill (slow, for example)
You MUST get your push-pull technique correctly synchronized to the drill speed.
You MUST have up/down consistent, no screwing around, at chosen RPM to get a correct and equal 45* cross-hatch. Screw this up and you will have rotating piston rings.

Wash the heck out the cylinders when you are done. A white paper towel should barely discolor when you dry the walls. Oil the walls instantly after you dry.

Do not rationalize a f**k-up when you install the pistons. Stop, disassemble, re-do.
Make sure your oil control ring gaps are at the top, (three piece rings may ask that you stagger the gaps of the oil control blades and spring UP AT THE TOP installed!
ColinGoodLuck

[Sluggo]

Thanks Colin. Pretty much the info I got searching around. Found this good write up from Bob Hoover about final cleaning with Bon Ami.
http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/2007 ... s-iii.html

My whole life is a rationalized F**K Up!

[Sluggo]

Driveway I've goot, though it isn't teh smoothest in the world. mostly flat, more-or-less level, and there's an O'ReillyAuto across 82nd.

When're you looking to do this?

Monday (tomorrow) morning. Or as soon as is convenient for you. Thanks very much for the offer. My only complaint about this apartment is the steep sloping driveway. Of course after 5 years of dependable service my engine starts needing work as soon as I move to a place where it's difficult to work on anything that requires jacking up the bus.

Doing my wet compression test today and working on the westy bed. I'll get the rings from Halsey in the morning.

[Sluggo]

Here are the instructions I've assembled from various sites but mostly from Bob Hoover's blog.

Get a pail to hold the cylinder in a little soapy water at the bottom.

Run drill at low speed & constantly drench in lubricant. You MUST get your push-pull technique correctly synchronized to the drill speed.

You MUST have up/down consistent, no screwing around, at chosen RPM to get a correct and equal 45* cross-hatch. Screw this up and you will have rotating piston rings.

Only do five pumps between checking cross hatch. No longer than a minute total.

Once satisfied, reverse & repeat.

(from Bob Hoover)
Plateau with Bon Ami or 20-Mule Team (other cleansers containing pumice, chalk or diatomatious earth work equally well). Do not use modern abrasives that contain glass or bleach.

But before getting all wet & sweaty go find a big pot, fill it with water and set it to boil. If you’ve got a stove in your shop (I do!) things are a bit easier than if you have to work in the kitchen. Or the back yard. Working outside, the best boiler is probably a barbeque. And yes, you want the water boiling, or as close to it as you can get at your elevation.
You’ll also need a piece of stiff wire to fish the jugs out of the boiling water and a pad of newspaper or cardboard to sit them on after they are sprayed. As in WD-40. Because if you aren’t standing there Johnny-on-the-Spot with your can of WD-40 at the ready, your jugs are rust right before your eyes. And yes, WD-40 is okay for this job. In fact, that’s what the ‘WD’ stands for: Water Dispersant, formulation #40. Developed for Convair back in their Atlas missile days.

Ready to scrub? Then go to it.

After scrubbing a jug, take it over to the hot pot, hook the wire through a hole and slosh it in the boiling water. Do a good job of it; you want that jug to get hot. While it’s getting hot you’re grabbing a rag to use to hold on to the can of WD-40 (soapy hands, etc.).

Raise the hot, rinsed jug out of the water, orient it so the over-spray won’t kill anything and soak it down with WD-40. Let it drip a bit then sit on the drain pad, recover your wire and get busy with the next one.

Figure on spending an hour or more per set of jugs. And that doesn’t count the preparation & clean-up (Hint: Add another notch to the fin showing which set the jug belongs to.)

Despite conventional wisdom WD-40 is not a protective coating. It was - - and is - - a water dispersant and while handy for other things, protecting bare metal isn’t one of them. So make up a pad of paper toweling, soak it with motor oil and wipe down the bores of your scrubbed jugs. Careful! The last one out of the pot will be too hot too touch. Try doing a bit of clean-up first; give it a chance to cool down. Okay; now wipe them down and put them back into the box according to their notches/numbers.

As to how to give your barrels a bath, the holes for the head-stays divides the barrel into quadrants. Put the barrel into your wash bucket, tub or whatever, submerged in water. Dampen your sponge, charge it with a couple of squeezes of Bon-Ami, 20-Mule Team or whatever, pick up the jug in one hand, the sponge in the other and give one quadrant twenty strokes. Dip, re-charge the sponge, rotate to the next quadrant and repeat. After doing all four, rinse the barrel and the sponge... and do it all over again. Four more times.

[hambone]

I used the Colin Method, and a sponge with Green Scrubber Whatever on the other side, you know the ones. I think the Mr. Hoover Method (rest in peace, sir) may be a bit over the top...

A question: would one always replace the rings, regardless of the number of miles on the pistons and cylinders (and rings of course)? When do you decide to re-use rings?

[tristessa]

Driveway I've goot, though it isn't teh smoothest in the world. mostly flat, more-or-less level, and there's an O'ReillyAuto across 82nd.

When're you looking to do this?

Monday (tomorrow) morning. Or as soon as is convenient for you.

Tomorrow morning can work, as long as you don't need anyone to be here .. we're at work in the day until Saturday. There's space in the driveway but you'll have the nose of the Bus poking out into the area between the street & the fence .. got teh Cabriolet on ramps with the engine half apart right now .. and since I've got the Cabby taken apart, Mary's driving the Scirocco which means I don't have a spare car I can loan out. Unfortunately. I feel bad that you've gotta take things apart again because I gave you a bum steer on re-using the rings -- I *have* done it myself and never had a problem, but I never had to try and pass any kind of emissions testing with that car...

On the Westy bed, I saw some foam at the Fred Meyers across the street this afternoon FWIW.

[Sluggo]

Tomorrow morning can work, as long as you don't need anyone to be here .. we're at work in the day until Saturday. There's space in the driveway but you'll have the nose of the Bus poking out into the area between the street & the fence .. got teh Cabriolet on ramps with the engine half apart right now .. and since I've got the Cabby taken apart, Mary's driving the Scirocco which means I don't have a spare car I can loan out. Unfortunately. I feel bad that you've gotta take things apart again because I gave you a bum steer on re-using the rings -- I *have* done it myself and never had a problem, but I never had to try and pass any kind of emissions testing with that car...

On the Westy bed, I saw some foam at the Fred Meyers across the street this afternoon FWIW.

Didn't get your response until today. I'll be coming tomorrow around 8am if that's cool. Wanna try & get this done in one or two days tops so I want to have everything I need on hand. Figured Mary would be driving the Scirocco so I'll be takin' the Bus (first time in many years). I'll call ya after work.

Thanks for the tip on the foam but I already got some. Found an ex furniture upholsterer selling off his stock. Got some nice High density foam for 1/3 the normal price. Wish I hadn't spent my money on foam & fabric otherwise I could get some new P&Cs.

[tristessa]

Don't bother calling unless you just wanna leave a message, I'll be at the Lab...

[Sluggo]

Don't bother calling unless you just wanna leave a message, I'll be at the Lab...

Forgot about the Lab! DUH! See ya there.

[Sluggo]

A question: would one always replace the rings, regardless of the number of miles on the pistons and cylinders (and rings of course)? When do you decide to re-use rings?

The lesson I learned is to always re-hone the cylinder & replace the rings if you have removed the jugs from the pistons. Rings are $28 & a drill hone tool is $20. It's cheap insurance against having to do a job twice.

[hambone]

Where did you get the honing tool?

[Sluggo]

Where did you get the honing tool?

Harbor Freight.

[Sluggo]

Installed new rings on Saturday & Sunday. Thanks to Hal for letting me use his driveway, his help/advice and for the bottle of Brown Shugga (my recent favorite beer). Did a break in on the way home on Sunday night at 12:30. Wire for my CHT sender snapped at the ring while dropping the engine. No absent minded screw ups this time except at the end (around midnight) when I started her up for the first time. She ran for a minute then stalled & wouldn't start again. After about 15 minutes of trying to figure out what was up, I saw the plug to the voltage regulator peeking out from under the right carb. The blue wire from the VR plug activates my fuel pump relay. Had to run a wire from the battery to the pump to refill the carbs & I was off! Took the back roads which are full of hills for half the way and freeway the rest. Then did another break in run through the hills on the way to the Lucky Lab last night. I'll be camping this weekend so I'll do a major break in then. I'll try to put several hundred miles on it over the next week and then try DEQ again.