Water in cylinder, now rust, now what?

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dibbons

dibbons

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Found some water in cylinders in old 318 I'm installing. Took cylinder heads off and overnight soak in Liquid Wrench got things moving again. However, one cylinder has a small trail of rust leading from the top of cylinder down to end of piston travel. The top ring seems to be bumping into this rust. Can I use some wet/dry sandpaper to clean the rust from the bore? Three tries with Naval Jelly did nuthin'. Thank you.
 
Get a 3" or 4" wire wheel on a drill and knock the rust out of the cylinder. I've done it before...
 
I would be concerned about rust on the piston rings. Rust there can lock the ring in the land and really score up the cylinder wall and cause a loss of compression. I would remove the piston and check out the rings before I just crossed my fingers and used it.
 
hard to believe but i had a friend remove the pistons,sand everything with 80 grit and put it back together.
..still running fine
 
I would pull the one piston and at least hone that cylinder, check the rings, put it back together.
 
Fill cylinders with ATF and let sit a few days
 
I just cleaned and readied a Ford 400 for assembly that had rust in a few cylinders. When I tore it down, I assumed one would not clean up so I was preparing myself to have the block bored.

I am a determined sort when it comes to making old or "bad" things good again, so I decided to try. What would I have to lose? I got the dingleberry out and started honing.

Not only did I clean up the worst cylinder, but all the rest too. The worst one has some permanent water staining close to the top of the cylinder. Not worried about it. It did have to have new pistons. Get a load of this. I scored a set of NOS STD Sterling cast pistons on fleabay for 20 bucks. The box was so old it was fallin apart but the pistons were perfect.

Keep in mind, all this depends on how much wear the cylinders have to begin with. For some reason, this 400 block didn't have a measurable ridge. I don't understand, because it's a 1971 block and should be wore all to heck.

Try honing it. You might be surprised.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I just cleaned and readied a Ford 400 for assembly that had rust in a few cylinders. When I tore it down, I assumed one would not clean up so I was preparing myself to have the block bored.

I am a determined sort when it comes to making oil or "bad" things good again, so I decided to try. What would I have to lose? I got the dingleberry out and started honing.

Not only did I clean up the worst cylinder, but all the rest too. The worst one has some permanent water staining close to the top of the cylinder. Not worried about it. It did have to have new pistons. Get a load of this. I scored a set of NOS STD Sterling cast pistons on fleabay for 20 bucks. The box was so old it was fallin apart but the pistons were perfect.

Keep in mind, all this depends on how much wear the cylinders have to begin with. For some reason, this 400 block didn't have a measurable ridge. I don't understand, because it's a 1971 block and should be wore all to heck.

Try honing it. You might be surprised.
Click to expand...

RRR, why did it need new Pistons? Rusted/locked rings?
 
68gtxman said:
RRR, why did it need new Pistons? Rusted/locked rings?
Click to expand...

Ha! I was gonna use the originals. I was deringing them and got to the LAST ONE and it had a broken ring land. I probably could have gotten by with one, but the 400 used several pistons through its run as Ford was trying to combat the detonation problem they were plagued with, so I wanted to be sure they were all the same.
 
Update. OK, I bought a fine wire wheel for my drill, but a neighbor handed me some 150 grit sandpaper to try first. The 150 grit took the rust stains right off! Returned the wire wheel attachment for a refund. I am not going to pull the pistons, but I did purchase a new timing chain because the old stock type was hanging. Hardly any ring ridge in the top of the cylinders for some reason. Used compressed air to clean out the cylinders and wiped 'em down with ATF before it began to rain and had to call it a day.
 
First car I bought was a 69 caprice, with the short block under the hood and the rest of the engine in the trunk. It had bad rust in several cylinders. Used a bead hone in the bock after pulling the pistons and rods. had pits in the cylinder walls almost deep enough to run the piston past a bb, and some piston tops were eaten to half the original thickness. Wire brushed the pistons, cleaned the ring groves with a broken ring, new rings/bearings/gaskets, bolted it together and proceeded to abuse that car to no end. Not a whole lot of power (327) but it ran dependably! You can get by with some horrible work but your results will suffer.
 
IMO it's a big mistake not disassembling and honing the cylinders properly. Now you have changed the finish on that one cylinder with some very harsh abrasive paper. Generally, hones are in the 400 grit range, so that shows you how coarse you went. No way you have the correct finish in that cylinder. Rings are cheap. You should do it right. Hone it and rering it.
 
I am just trying to drive it home for a complete restoration, that's why not using my usual meticulous methods. Motor has a tag on it that it was rebuilt in 1978. Staying in a Motel 6 every night means another full day of travel expenses not to mention the 1,400 mile drive back awaiting me.
 
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