How to correctly rering?

[sbiggi]

How do you correctly rering a engine?

I did mine before, but it came out worse then before I started.
It was even, but low and lots of blowby.

I'm going to be using cast rings.

My plan is to use a 400 grit ball hone this time where as I last time I used a 3 stone hone.

Any tips to get a good seal or to ensure I do it right this time?

Thanks,
Seth

[Slow96GSR]

1st I'd use a shop that can do this, but that's me. If you have a dealer manual, not a chiltons or hynes (?spelling?), look up the specs on clearances and ring gaps, if you are doing this yourself. I'm not a fan of the ball honers. We used them in college and they worked for those motors but didn't always do the best job.

If you are in Denver see Tobi. In the Springs my shop can do it.

[i drive crap]

I've reringed some chevy motors in the past with a ball hone, but it sucks. The most important thing is to measure the end gap and make sure they cylinders are still round. If not you are wasting your time. You need to bore it. If they are still round (yes, all the way down), you need to hone it with the correct honing angles, and use oil or WD-40 while you are doing it. I've had better luck with ball honers than 3 stone doing my own stuff, and if you have a manual it'll include a little drawing on the correct hone pattern. Really the best way is with a honing plate at a machine shop. Their machines are set up to put the exact honing marks in the cylinders they need, and the honing plate mimics the torque of the head on the cylinders so they stay round for the honing process. That's the long answer
Short answer, if you want it to last, and you plan on using the car for anything but a demo derby, take it somewhere that knows what they are doing and pay the money.

[HONDA GHANDI]

Its a "torque" plate you are talking about Adam. And yes, a machine hone will produce the most acurate hone pattern. Doing it by hand is a longshot at best to get consistant patterns accross the length of the bore. Ring gap is easily done by hand with a fine file and feeler gauges.

[sbiggi]

I used a 3 stone hone last time, and I'm sure the pattern wasnt optimal.
I checked ring endgap and didnt need to mess with any of them, each ring was in the middle of spec.

Last time I did have a hard time trying to identify which side was up with the 2nd ring.

If I had happened to put the 2nd ring in upside down, would the compression be absolutley horrible? or would it just be kind of crappy?

[Zach]

the rings should have a dot stamped or punched in them to identify which side is up.
if they dont, the chamfer goes up on the 2nd ring and down on the 1st. i think... it could be the other way around though

[sbiggi]

the rings should have a dot stamped or punched in them to identify which side is up.
if they dont, the chamfer goes up on the 2nd ring and down on the 1st. i think... it could be the other way around though

The first ring did have a dot, I put in in facing up

The second ring had some very light writing on it if I remember correctly, and I put it facing up. I'm going to pull a piston when I get this apart and check the 2nd ring.