Re-ring the motor?

[Zero Signal]

I'm wondering what it would take to re-ring the shortblock? I'm wondering if I could get away with the ABSOLUTE minimum on it. Could I potentially hone the cylinders a bit, put new rings in and call it a day?? I mean, if the crank bearings are looking ok, why replace those? If I did, I would then need to machine the crank . Same thing on the write pins. I'd rather just not bother. How minimal could I go on this?

 

[RemoW2112]

Lazy man overhaul

Modern rings (moly rings that is) are pretty impressive. So if the cylinder walls look ok or you can see some crosshatching left in the walls. Ream the ridge on the top of the cylinder off and rehone the cylinders.

But I would not reuse the bearings. It is too cheap to just replace them and lefts you get a look at the crank journals. You can always plastigauge the new bearings, it will tell you a lot but is a slow and tedious process.

Now here is the fine print! If the engine was knocking, had low oil pressure, blowing blue smoke you would be better off getting the machine work done and doing a proper rebuild. If the heads have leaky valves by redoing the bottom end any leak issues with the heads will be more prominent.

I have done several lazy man overhauls and never had an issue. Don't expect to get 100k miles out of one.

HTH,
Dan...

 

[Gearbanger 101]

As Remo stated, bearings are so inexpensive, you'd be a fool not to replace them when you've got the engine torn down. If you've got minor scratches in the crank journals, then most of the time they can be polished out with a strip of fine emery cloth. Anything deep enough to dig your fingernail into is going to require some attention though....and you're better off haveing it turned and some oversized ones put in. It’s better to find it out sooner, than after you’ve buttoned the engine back together.

 

[revhead347]

Yeah, you could just re ring it. Changing the crank and rod bearings does not necessarily require any crankshaft work.

Kurt

 

[mr_josh]

A place I really like called Northern Auto Parts has re-ring kits for a decent price and they include rings, bottom end bearings, and a full gasket/seal kit. Have one waiting to go in to my Tbird at the end of this summer.

 

[Zero Signal]

Cool. I figured I HAD to machine the crank no matter what, if I changed the bearings. The cylinders aren't too bad.. I'd be more than happy to plastigauge the bearings and see hey they're looking. I'm a fan of measure twice, cut once, since i have the patience for it.

Reliability wise, I really just want this thing to run for another year or two before I plan to actually sell it off. The engine is so clean right now and all the seals are brand new. The engine is like new except the stupid short block.