Lifter bore honing?

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dibbons

dibbons

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Back in the '70's I ran a brake cylinder hone in the tappet bores for a few seconds to clean them up a tad during rebuilds. Today, at Autozone, I was just about to purchase a brake cylinder hone for such a task until I noticed on the package "220 grit". That seemed a little on the rough side, so I decided to discuss it on the forum here. I found a Lisle made hone at another parts store, but I did not notice the stone grit printed on the Lisle package, so I passed on that item too.
 
dibbons said:
Back in the '70's I ran a brake cylinder hone in the tappet bores for a few seconds to clean them up a tad during rebuilds. Today, at Autozone, I was just about to purchase a brake cylinder hone for such a task until I noticed on the package "220 grit". That seemed a little on the rough side, so I decided to discuss it on the forum here. I found a Lisle made hone at another parts store, but I did not notice the stone grit printed on the Lisle package, so I passed on that item too.
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Whoa! My advice would be to measure them first. Unless they are scored or rough I wouldn't hone them. 65'
 
This was not my idea, read it in how to "Hot Rod Your Mopar", or some book like that (printed in the '70's). Besides that, this block I am putting back together was not stored in the best conditions, namely RUSTY.
 
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I have a brush hone I use on them. It's not enough to enlarge the bores appreciably but cleans them of any buildup. They should be individually measured too.
 
dibbons said:
This was not my idea, read it in how to "Hot Rod Your Mopar", or some book like that (printed in the '70's). Besides that, this block I am putting back together was not stored in the best conditions, namely RUSTY.
Click to expand...

Measure and brush hone, and only if block cleaning didn't clean them up! 65'
 
If you open them up too much, then your mains oil pressure will drop. The clearance of the lifters to their bores is a bonafide leak in the main oiling system, since the lifter bores intersect the main oil supply flow. I avoid rusty blocks for this reason.

You DO want to get all the rust out as it is an abrasive and will get into the bearings and score the lifters, etc. I would use a fine scotch brite and be patient.

If your bores are a bit enlarged, you might be able to buy a cam from someone who may work with you to select lifters (like maybe Crane) and ask if they can sort through and find you some oversized lifters. We had the opposite problem.... a virgin block and tight lifter bores and some of the new out-of-the-box lifters would not fit. We called Crane with the problem, from whom we had bought the cam direct, and they sent us new ones checked to be under a certain size for free. (Good service!)
 
use a BRM ball hone. it has the dingle balls on it, does not enlarge the bore, only cleans it up, put a cross hatch on it. we use a 240 grit, it's not rough finish.
use a bottle brush to scrub them clean afterwards.
 
Get a shotgun brass brush and cut the end handle off and chuck it up in a cordless drill. That will accomplish what moper described.
 
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