If you want to really learn the tricks to building a great engine, listen to Uncle Tony. Its the same as learning to become a great chef by listening to a 5 yr. old describe his happy meal.
Yeah because a slant 6 freshening needs $3000 worth of race engine machine work 🤡🤡. Typical machine shop guy trying to sell you tons of work you don’t need.
@@UncleTonysGarage it was very straightforward uncle Tony. This guy is a complete troll. Excellent job on showing some of the new guys some good tricks. Also of course thank you for the entertainment to another old school motorhead.
@@UncleTonysGarage I'm NOT a novice engine builder, but I STILL LOVE this series!!!! So much knowledge and information and it's awesome to see another engine builder showing the old tricks of the trade, especially low tech know how!!! A LOT of what Tony shows/describes is very similar to what I do/did/have always done and got very good durable results from. Some of the stuff Tony shows/explains I have never even thought about, and it seems like I LEARN A LOT FROM EVERY VIDEO!!!! There's a lot of videos showing hand building/remanufacturing engines from india and china, and they use some pretty low tech techniques, and some of those videos are showing how they do it on new/modern engines that sell to the entire world, so you DEFINITELY DO NOT need a full $8000 or even $3000 machine shop for this stuff.
I’ve honed a lot of small engines. I hone might right in my parts washer with mineral spirits. I direct the spout at the cylinder wall, turn on the pump and hone away. The mineral spirits flush the cuttings and grit away as I go.
Hey man just wanted to say that your videos are very helpful for the guy at home. Don’t listen to the machine shop guys that think their process is the only right way to build an engine. I’m a young kid and I’m porting the cylinder heads on my dads 318 and doing some cleanup or “blueprinting”. We need more mopar videos like yours. It seems every TH-cam channel has worked on or talked about Chevy 350 small blocks.
@@hughgerection8675 that's only true to a certain extent for example some professional builders balanced pistons, pins, rods ect to within 1g some do it to within 0.5g some even further like myself a min of .01g I don't accept more of a variance then that so again it's dependent unless you're referring to f1 ect which I'm sure is far more intense as far as tolerance goes and let's be real hear if he is looking to race to win specific class then a 318 isn't on the likely list of combos anyway so it's clearly for a fun weekend car it will probably never see 500whp or above so aslong as it's in spec it will work and be fun and that's really the key overall
Your videos are a godsend. I have an old Ford 144 inline six I got for free off craigslist. Just having fun tinkering with it and learning to rebuild an engine. Not something I want to take to a machine shop and drop a grand on getting blueprinted. After getting the pistons unstuck finally I was faced with the question of: "should i get this bored?" People on an internet forum were telling me I need to (and I might), but I was thinking "I wonder what Uncle Tony says about this" and you had a perfect video for it.
I've always used diesel when honing or as cutting oil or anything like that, but growing up on the farm we always had diesel fuel around just waiting to be used as a solvent/lubricant, so that's what we used. We also used it to wash our hands when we were done working on anything that got our hands greasy/oily. The diesel fuel we used back then seemed like it was a lot more "slippery" or lubricating than the ULSD available now, so I use WD40 or lite engine oil as cutting oil now, but still use diesel for engine cylinder honing.
offroad diesel or home heating oil still has the lubricant (Sulfur) in it, at least in my location. Diesel owners would know the ratio of 2stroke to ULSD to have the protection of old diesel.
That is what he covered in this video if you paid attention. At 76 now what he has done is cover how we did it as young kids with no fancy tools. Using gasoline as a hone lubricant is close to us that used kerosene, Even the machine shops in our town where not really engine building shops.
Dude I rebuilt my 5.9 cummins, in frame overhaul my first engine and followed your steps without ever watching your videos. Just used my logic, worked out great truck is running strong and great.
If you have an engine you just want to get back together like this I suggest finding a hone with the fixed adjustment rather than spring loaded. You can do a much better job of honing and correcting the bore in the process. Having honed hundreds of blocks there is pretty well always a few thousandths taper and a fixed stone lets you get that out whick makes the rings and pistons much happier and it will last a lot longer.
Great comment. I wish UTG would've covered that. I took the time to quickly peruse Google. I'm happy I did. Back in the day, the cost between the three types of hones was the biggest factor in hone choice. It still is today, but MUCH less so. Ball and spring-loaded "fixed stone" are still the cheap way to go. However, for $150 - $160, lisle, apparently, makes a rigid hone. Back in the day, they were like $400 to $600. What's great about these bad boys is that this is as close to having a professional, machine shop hone at home. This is the same type of head as machine shop hone, just smaller, so a drill motor can handle it. Because it does rigidly hold the stones, it's much easier to get a bore that's round and straight. The only difference between this and a professional is that, due to the mechanically controlled stroke and rpm, a professional can precisely, repeatedly set a cross hatch pattern where a hand stroked, hand controlled drill motor might leave inconsistencies from bore to bore.
@@kart70 Thanks for that. It's good that a newbie has choices, depending on his budget. UTG is pretty consistent with being budget minded. It's a growing process. 🙂 BTW, slight tangent, I have old tools from my dad. The ones still working were the ones from quality mnftrs.
One more shot in the dark thing to think about is to check out the night courses at the local tech college. It's not that common, but some colleges do have automotive style machining equipment and even may offer night classes where you can do your own machining on your own engine. Sure, it won't be cheap, but it may be cheaper than the machine shop, and you can brag that you did it all yourself.
I agree with you Tony great job explaining the generations of engines. Not to blow my own horn, just an old guy who wants to help here, early first Generation engines did have the owners working on them. Some poured their own bearings in the rods or crankshaft s of these engines, but short of that several farmers who didn’t have access to even a small furnace to melt Bering material, mostly lead I believe, and the metals used in the process would simply use a strap of leather that was soaked in oil. Crazy right? But at the time people worked with what they had, and the got the idea of using leather as a bearing came from it’s used on wagon wheels. Wagon owners repaired their own wheels when they had to, making the rungs to hole the rim in place by carving what ever wood they could find and placing leather straps covered in grease to lubricate the wheels and allow them to turn on the wooden axles without destroying them. Definitely a primitive version of shade tree mechanics. Fascinating on the intermediate engines, you are spot on! This is where I got my start eons ago. I even met Don Garlits on this journey. Keep in mind that almost all the improvements in the middle era came about through racing in all its forms. The technology of modern engines were driven in part by racing, but can be directly linked to water cooled Fighter engines from WWII. Why it took so long? The muscle cars were so successful in those intermediate years that the technology wasn’t need to build faster an faster cars or better engines. That’s what drives us old guys to want to keep the dream alive and pass everything down to the next generation! But after the muscle car era all but died it was unfortunately driven by forces out of our control. In fact I don’t believe we would be seeing much of that would have taken place if it weren’t for, customer demand for performance and the way the EPA destroyed the potential of the late intermediate engines. Instead of improving and researching better designs the EPA required a host of stop gap parts be installed on engines. they lowered compression to the point that most had issues with afterun,( commonly refers to as dieseling), decreased performance along with what seemed like miles of vacuum lines that all but buried the engine they were put in .That all but killed the DIY market which drives aftermarket parts today. To make power required auto manufacturers to invest in development of better technologies, but they failed to do so, at least for those cars made in America. The foreign car manufacturers ran circles around our four cylinder economy cars. We caught up and leaped ahead, but it took time. Keep in mind that our economy went through a major recession, and wages shrank uncontrollably when inflation is considered, for decades. But, due to demand and a somewhat improved economy we are back on track.
Important last sentence from Tony gave us all a clue, "Now i can confidently get standard bore piston rings" The take away is: Don't order anything or open a catalogue until the block and the rotating assembly is inspected!
While you're checking for light gaps in the cylinder. Go ahead and check the gap with a feeler gauge at the same time. Save a step. Otherwise, perfect explanation. Easy to follow and very good information
When I built my last stock class 440 we did a lot of these trick because we needed to do a fast build. My head was spinning because I wanted to do it “the right way” but my guy said “this is one of the many right ways and we’re racing” so I’m all for it. I was balancing rods and pistons with a drill and a belt sander and he was checking taper this way!
Thank you Uncle Tony. These little "tricks", tips are absolutely great for the newbie and oldie as well. I am 68 but I still pick up something new or something triggers connection to a memory that I consciously had forgotten from the past. You, David and Andy are leaving a legacy that will stand the test of time. Terry from Australia.
As a rookie and first time hone user. I will try hone oil first and go very slow then try gas when i get comfortable. This has been one of the most informative videos i have seen . David Vizard ,Steve Morris and yourself really know how to teach what you know. Your explanations and instructions make learning this stuff way easier. Thanks for sharing and giving me the confidence to try a engine rebuild my self .Stay healthy and happy.
Just 2 items I hope you will cover in a future installment : How to feel the feeler gauge so you know you have the right one because it is easy to go a couple thousands once way or the other between loose and too tight. Second would be which stones to use because there are different grits and that will be based on the type of rings used. Great series! I wish I had a teacher 20+ years ago that taught me this stuff!
Hi uncle Tony . I have to keep commenting on this series of videos. These are great for real world engine building. This is what most guys and gals are doing in there garage and driveways. I commented before I wish I had these back in the fabulous 80's when I was doing this outside in a driveway.
Thank you for your expertise. I was gonna throw my pistons in my sbc 355, until this video. The bores were very smooth. Will run new cast iron rings and hone with a 220 grit. Thank you for setting me straight.
Just found your channel and love it! Timing is everything as they say, I'm currently rebuilding a '55 Plymouth 230c.i. flathead 6 engine, and your tutorial on checking bore roundness and taper is wonderful! I do have measuring tools I picked up over the years but what you showed is simple and definite. I will be looking at your other series on rebuilding the 4.0l for more tips and tricks, thank you so much for doing this!!! You're helping all of us "garage" mechanics keep our old iron alive!
I've done this in 1000s of engine block's & diesel engines in chassis rebuild with zero problems. Only one job my mechanic dropped socket down the intake and started the truck ruining the cylinder head & piston. That's the only come back I ever had from honing cylinder walls for a refresh rebuild. 💥 BADA BING BADA BOOM 💥 I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE 🙌 Nj'sJfJr 👍🏼💪🏼❤️🇺🇸
Good stuff. if you do measure a difference in gap as you move down the cylinder, divide the gap difference by pi (3.14) to get the diameter difference between the 2 spots along the cylinder.
Tony thank you so much for this tip. I am rebuilding a 1964 lincoln sa 200 engine driven welder. It has unknown hours but was using oil cause of valves. I just checked all 4 cylinders they are round and still in spec. Now I just gotta measure the bearings for crankshaft to buy the right ones. But this saved me so much more time. I will be finishing it up before next year!
I’m rebuilding my 4.0 that was a 4.7 stroker for about 80k miles before the mains went out since I built it in 2008-2009. I sent the block and crank to Carolina crankshaft and had them fix my main journals and set my clearances right. I am going to start putting back together as soon as my tax return hits my account. It’s a beast engine! That’s for sure!!
I had an old Datsun A12 engine that had a definite dip in cylinder wall from a previous piston failure. After 3 years of thrashing and neglect, that dip was gone when I stripped engine.
While I have the snap gauges and micrometers to take precision bore measurements, I usually take rough measurements (like Tony just did) first just to give myself a heads up on the condition of the bore. They're usually pretty close to the precision measurements anyway. I also combine the 2 methods that Tony used with the light and feeler gauge into 1 operation. I'm guessing that he does too and only did them separately for the sake of clarity in the video for first timers...which isn't a bad thing.
Uncle Tony has a very good video on how to paint a cast iron block. I wish somebody would do the same for aluminum blocks but I'm pretty sure that some high dollar paint is needed for that. Some guys are having their billet alloy blocks color anodised prior to final machining.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with those of us looking to get into this. Disregard the "gatekeepers" and trolls. Unfortunately, they seem to occupy most of our hobbies like reloading, amateur radio, motorcycles and automotive repair. Their goal is to dissuade others entry into the activity while at the same time, bitch about the lack of interest into said activity. God bless!
I rebuilt the 318 in my durango two years ago. I have about 15k on it now and a road trip. The ridge in the cylinders was so slight I could barely feel it. Called my local machine shop and he told me he wouldn't touch it unless he bored it 30 over and assembled the short block himself. Also wanted 5k and at least 6 months to do it. Needless to say I didn't do that. gave the cylinders a quick hone and send it. So far the thing is great.
Long time ago, I had a 318. Had the heads off at 114k due to a burnt valve. Was told “you know it’s needs an .030 overbore.” Nope. Put the heads back on and the car ran like a champ to 225k until I parked the car for restoration.
I wanna say the old model T engines had shims under the main caps and when the lead babit bearings would wear out you'd remove a shim to make it fit again and once you ran out of shims you'd pour new babit and start over
@@stevetaylor9265 yeah I know on things like lawn mower engines there are no bearings and the couple I've built I didn't torque anything just tightened till it didn't turn any more by hand
Like your videos build my first engine at 17 years old 1979 GM 455 throwed a rod bearing lobe working on engines ever since my brother had a state police car 1970 fury 440 magnum I was 9 years old that car was scary to me hes is 9 years older than I am and iv always love mopar . Love watching your videos feel like I'm in a class room learning how to build a engine.
Bros I inherited lots of tools and motors and After just putting a piston in a golf cart honing it etc I can't wait to rebuild these V8"s! Previously thought it was unobtainable rocket science🙃
Great video.. Very informative. I'm rebuilding an 87 BMW m20, cast iron block. Will probably send it to the Machine shop, but I'm going to check it out based on the video before I do. Thanks much.
In a machinist term I would take dykem blue and cover the area that was going to be inspected use the ring and scrape down the surface, and anywhere we didn't scrape you know that would be a low spot. I would say you'd have to have more than a thousandth of an inch to see light testing both ways to make sure
Bringing back memories overhauling used engines on the low dime ! Use to buy rotted muscle rusty cars , mopars for 800-1200 dollars etc performance them ,invest elbow grease and only minimal money for the fix upgrades ,Sheet metal and BONDO , lacquer spray paints ! cam and lifters , double roller timming chain, valve springs, gaskets ,bearing , rings , valve seals, oil pump and gunk and paint ! JC Whitney mail catalogue for the cheapy cheap performance parts ! Swap meets for headers , aluminum manifolds , higher stall converter , overhaul a used Holley too ! same for the rest of the car , brake pads , change the oils , swap out in 8 3/4 rear a used posi with taller gears , man those cone posi's really sucked , they wore out fast and it didn't lock up then ! had to pay the extra for the clutched ones ! , when money was no object add the 125 HP NOS BAby ! oh almost forgot the secret air induction system ! that chrome praying mantis head air cleaner without the foam insert filter removed ! keep bugs and rocks out ! and the chrome barefoot gas pedal ! must have cool factor and a sport steering wheel ! used cragers and fattest rubber with the money left ! The most important for Last ! Must have cassette deck with a booster graphic eq amp and coax 6x9 speakers , cruse and race time baby !
Glad I watched this video haha pulled my 360 FE heads off and it doesn't look too bad besides the ridge at the top on almost every cylinder haha its pretty bad. Not sure if I should buy remanufactured heads or fix mine
I remember a story of you blowing up the laundry room?? Hahaha how did that go again lmbo . Good stuff buddy. I do the same stuff never had a problem. Well not yet? And yes I’ve poured Babbitt barring’s before. Lol old technology gotta love it .
Re the existing crosshatch when tearing an engine down... If you know the engine was done right previously (competant mechanic or untouched since factory assembly) then wear patterns would show any deviations. And you should put a good crosshatch down even if the previous crosshatch is still visible, since the crosshatch acts as the teeth on a file to wear down any high spots on the ring. You match the coarseness of the finish to the hardness of the ring so that the "file teeth" become dull just when the ring seats for a good seal. Any remaining crosshatch will help hold a bit of oil for lubrication. My two cents.
Same.. that was after scraping the gasket surface with his "trusty" clip point pocket knife that jw reckoned he had scraped hundreds of gaskets with... the fact it took him half the whole build time to scrape the gaskets was a huge red flag early on. It was painful to watch and you could see it in Tony and Kathy's faces that they knew they were dealing with inexperienced people.
I would note the safety factor of using gasoline is derived by having the drill above the cylinder being honed - gasoline vapors will drop, not rise. I would not try such from a side angle, as my old sears drill is a bit of an arcy/sparky device around the brushes.
My father drove a Bull Dog Mack with a 2 piston engine and a chain drive. The pistons were about a foot across . My father hated the truck but he couldn't kill it.
Before doing an operation on the engine, he educates 5 mins about the nature of the process.Great teacher and i am going to slowly build my 2.0 lt Rav 4 diesel engine with those teachings without rushing and asking some help from a reputable machine shop if the block needs to be barred or squared etc etc.But i have one question I wonder a lot , for exemple when the bore is machined the milling machine has a fixed true square reference, i mean the bore afterwords is true and correct.My question is wouldn't it be better to attach the honing aparat to a drill press or a more true turning spindled machine instead of a drill that we hold in our hand ? Isn't it going to disturb the trueness of the bore ? Or the cutting rate of the stones are not considerably high so it doesn't matter ?
Everybody hones too fast, now Uncle Tony here too. No way that's making a 45-60 degree crosshatch pattern, more like 15-20. Slow down the RPM and/or make quicker strokes.
Last time I rebuild my 355 I had a small ridge so I opted for a single berry because I was worried the ridge would keep the hone out from hitting the cylinder at the very top because it's essentially holding the hone at an angle vs perfectly parrell to cylinder so at a certain point in the stroke of hone the stones touching the ridge and the bottom of stone...if you look at that 4.0 the last .25" is still black where home isn't hitting. I don't know makes sense to me and my rings sealed fine and has run for years. I've seen a block ruined by a ridge ream from a machine shop! The finish product was the ream flus with the bore on 1 side and opposite side cut into the cylinder making a flat groove vs a ridge. So then it's re sleeve or toss it in junk pile and re sleeving a SBC isn't worth it unless it's a original OEM numbers matching block. I see the same machine shop bore a Honda 200cc cylinder so sloppy the piston clanked around when held it in with fingers, BUT a Budweiser can slid in perfectly hmmmm. Maybe the machinist was drunk and measured a can instead the piston? Lol, the engine sounded like a diesel from the piston slap and burned oil. There not in business any more. They bored my 350 block . 030 back then perfectly tho... The shop was Steego auto parts in Rockland ME. And had a machine shop out back.
How about a 2.4 dohc Chrysler motor from mid 90s is it in the same engine group as the jeep engine? It's a cast iron block w aluminum head. Great videos!
If you want to really learn the tricks to building a great engine, listen to Uncle Tony. Its the same as learning to become a great chef by listening to a 5 yr. old describe his happy meal.
What part of "Your First Engine Job" do you not understand, Mr. Fully Equipped Machine Shop??
I thought it was fairly straightforward....
Yeah because a slant 6 freshening needs $3000 worth of race engine machine work 🤡🤡. Typical machine shop guy trying to sell you tons of work you don’t need.
Well this got interesting
@@UncleTonysGarage it was very straightforward uncle Tony. This guy is a complete troll. Excellent job on showing some of the new guys some good tricks. Also of course thank you for the entertainment to another old school motorhead.
@@UncleTonysGarage I'm NOT a novice engine builder, but I STILL LOVE this series!!!! So much knowledge and information and it's awesome to see another engine builder showing the old tricks of the trade, especially low tech know how!!! A LOT of what Tony shows/describes is very similar to what I do/did/have always done and got very good durable results from. Some of the stuff Tony shows/explains I have never even thought about, and it seems like I LEARN A LOT FROM EVERY VIDEO!!!!
There's a lot of videos showing hand building/remanufacturing engines from india and china, and they use some pretty low tech techniques, and some of those videos are showing how they do it on new/modern engines that sell to the entire world, so you DEFINITELY DO NOT need a full $8000 or even $3000 machine shop for this stuff.
I’ve honed a lot of small engines. I hone might right in my parts washer with mineral spirits. I direct the spout at the cylinder wall, turn on the pump and hone away. The mineral spirits flush the cuttings and grit away as I go.
Hey man just wanted to say that your videos are very helpful for the guy at home. Don’t listen to the machine shop guys that think their process is the only right way to build an engine. I’m a young kid and I’m porting the cylinder heads on my dads 318 and doing some cleanup or “blueprinting”. We need more mopar videos like yours. It seems every TH-cam channel has worked on or talked about Chevy 350 small blocks.
@@hughgerection8675 lonely Under that Bridge huh...
Cheers up Hugh...
Ya as long as your within the specs run it I've never had issues adhering to that and it's treated my builds well.
@@hughgerection8675 that's only true to a certain extent for example some professional builders balanced pistons, pins, rods ect to within 1g some do it to within 0.5g some even further like myself a min of .01g I don't accept more of a variance then that so again it's dependent unless you're referring to f1 ect which I'm sure is far more intense as far as tolerance goes and let's be real hear if he is looking to race to win specific class then a 318 isn't on the likely list of combos anyway so it's clearly for a fun weekend car it will probably never see 500whp or above so aslong as it's in spec it will work and be fun and that's really the key overall
Your videos are a godsend. I have an old Ford 144 inline six I got for free off craigslist. Just having fun tinkering with it and learning to rebuild an engine. Not something I want to take to a machine shop and drop a grand on getting blueprinted. After getting the pistons unstuck finally I was faced with the question of: "should i get this bored?" People on an internet forum were telling me I need to (and I might), but I was thinking "I wonder what Uncle Tony says about this" and you had a perfect video for it.
I always hung out with the old guys when building engines… now I’m the old Guy! Id study manuals to learn, now it’s to remember😂
I've always used diesel when honing or as cutting oil or anything like that, but growing up on the farm we always had diesel fuel around just waiting to be used as a solvent/lubricant, so that's what we used. We also used it to wash our hands when we were done working on anything that got our hands greasy/oily. The diesel fuel we used back then seemed like it was a lot more "slippery" or lubricating than the ULSD available now, so I use WD40 or lite engine oil as cutting oil now, but still use diesel for engine cylinder honing.
offroad diesel or home heating oil still has the lubricant (Sulfur) in it, at least in my location. Diesel owners would know the ratio of 2stroke to ULSD to have the protection of old diesel.
While running the piston ring down the bore checking for roundness you can check the ring gap at each stage to see if there's any taper.
And divide the gap difference by pi to determine actual variation in diameter.
That is what he covered in this video if you paid attention. At 76 now what he has done is cover how we did it as young kids with no fancy tools.
Using gasoline as a hone lubricant is close to us that used kerosene, Even the machine shops in our town where not really engine building shops.
Dude I rebuilt my 5.9 cummins, in frame overhaul my first engine and followed your steps without ever watching your videos. Just used my logic, worked out great truck is running strong and great.
If you have an engine you just want to get back together like this I suggest finding a hone with the fixed adjustment rather than spring loaded. You can do a much better job of honing and correcting the bore in the process. Having honed hundreds of blocks there is pretty well always a few thousandths taper and a fixed stone lets you get that out whick makes the rings and pistons much happier and it will last a lot longer.
Great comment. I wish UTG would've covered that. I took the time to quickly peruse Google. I'm happy I did. Back in the day, the cost between the three types of hones was the biggest factor in hone choice. It still is today, but MUCH less so. Ball and spring-loaded "fixed stone" are still the cheap way to go. However, for $150 - $160, lisle, apparently, makes a rigid hone. Back in the day, they were like $400 to $600. What's great about these bad boys is that this is as close to having a professional, machine shop hone at home. This is the same type of head as machine shop hone, just smaller, so a drill motor can handle it. Because it does rigidly hold the stones, it's much easier to get a bore that's round and straight. The only difference between this and a professional is that, due to the mechanically controlled stroke and rpm, a professional can precisely, repeatedly set a cross hatch pattern where a hand stroked, hand controlled drill motor might leave inconsistencies from bore to bore.
@@kart70 Thanks for that. It's good that a newbie has choices, depending on his budget. UTG is pretty consistent with being budget minded. It's a growing process. 🙂
BTW, slight tangent, I have old tools from my dad. The ones still working were the ones from quality mnftrs.
One more shot in the dark thing to think about is to check out the night courses at the local tech college. It's not that common, but some colleges do have automotive style machining equipment and even may offer night classes where you can do your own machining on your own engine. Sure, it won't be cheap, but it may be cheaper than the machine shop, and you can brag that you did it all yourself.
Have learned more from this series than I did in 2 years junior college automotive technology.
I agree with you Tony great job explaining the generations of engines. Not to blow my own horn, just an old guy who wants to help here, early first Generation engines did have the owners working on them. Some poured their own bearings in the rods or crankshaft s of these engines, but short of that several farmers who didn’t have access to even a small furnace to melt Bering material, mostly lead I believe, and the metals used in the process would simply use a strap of leather that was soaked in oil. Crazy right? But at the time people worked with what they had, and the got the idea of using leather as a bearing came from it’s used on wagon wheels. Wagon owners repaired their own wheels when they had to, making the rungs to hole the rim in place by carving what ever wood they could find and placing leather straps covered in grease to lubricate the wheels and allow them to turn on the wooden axles without destroying them. Definitely a primitive version of shade tree mechanics.
Fascinating on the intermediate engines, you are spot on! This is where I got my start eons ago. I even met Don Garlits on this journey.
Keep in mind that almost all the improvements in the middle era came about through racing in all its forms. The technology of modern engines were driven in part by racing, but can be directly linked to water cooled Fighter engines from WWII. Why it took so long? The muscle cars were so successful in those intermediate years that the technology wasn’t need to build faster an faster cars or better engines. That’s what drives us old guys to want to keep the dream alive and pass everything down to the next generation! But after the muscle car era all but died it was unfortunately driven by forces out of our control. In fact I don’t believe we would be seeing much of that would have taken place if it weren’t for, customer demand for performance and the way the EPA destroyed the potential of the late intermediate engines. Instead of improving and researching better designs the EPA required a host of stop gap parts be installed on engines. they lowered compression to the point that most had issues with afterun,( commonly refers to as dieseling), decreased performance along with what seemed like miles of vacuum lines that all but buried the engine they were put in .That all but killed the DIY market which drives aftermarket parts today. To make power required auto manufacturers to invest in development of better technologies, but they failed to do so, at least for those cars made in America. The foreign car manufacturers ran circles around our four cylinder economy cars. We caught up and leaped ahead, but it took time. Keep in mind that our economy went through a major recession, and wages shrank uncontrollably when inflation is considered, for decades. But, due to demand and a somewhat improved economy we are back on track.
Important last sentence from Tony gave us all a clue, "Now i can confidently get standard bore piston rings" The take away is: Don't order anything or open a catalogue until the block and the rotating assembly is inspected!
While you're checking for light gaps in the cylinder. Go ahead and check the gap with a feeler gauge at the same time. Save a step. Otherwise, perfect explanation. Easy to follow and very good information
Tony and Kathy, I believe these videos are stepping stone to mass subscriptions. Tony, you are such a great teacher!
When I built my last stock class 440 we did a lot of these trick because we needed to do a fast build. My head was spinning because I wanted to do it “the right way” but my guy said “this is one of the many right ways and we’re racing” so I’m all for it. I was balancing rods and pistons with a drill and a belt sander and he was checking taper this way!
I remember when you hit 100k subs loving watching you grow. "If you throw it up in the air and it comes back down it's too heavy" UT
Thank you Uncle Tony. These little "tricks", tips are absolutely great for the newbie and oldie as well. I am 68 but I still pick up something new or something triggers connection to a memory that I consciously had forgotten from the past. You, David and Andy are leaving a legacy that will stand the test of time.
Terry from Australia.
As a rookie and first time hone user. I will try hone oil first and go very slow then try gas when i get comfortable. This has been one of the most informative videos i have seen . David Vizard ,Steve Morris and yourself really know how to teach what you know. Your explanations and instructions make learning this stuff way easier. Thanks for sharing and giving me the confidence to try a engine rebuild my self .Stay healthy and happy.
Just 2 items I hope you will cover in a future installment : How to feel the feeler gauge so you know you have the right one because it is easy to go a couple thousands once way or the other between loose and too tight. Second would be which stones to use because there are different grits and that will be based on the type of rings used. Great series! I wish I had a teacher 20+ years ago that taught me this stuff!
Hi uncle Tony . I have to keep commenting on this series of videos. These are great for real world engine building. This is what most guys and gals are doing in there garage and driveways. I commented before I wish I had these back in the fabulous 80's when I was doing this outside in a driveway.
This is exactly the type of information a beginner needs.
No , no it isnt
@@big8gmedia
Yes, yes it is.
Thank you for your expertise. I was gonna throw my pistons in my sbc 355, until this video. The bores were very smooth. Will run new cast iron rings and hone with a 220 grit. Thank you for setting me straight.
I'm loving this playlist. About to start an engine rebuild this year.
You sir are a go to encyclopedia of knowledge, thanks for sharing your experience.
This guys a blessing yo
Just found your channel and love it! Timing is everything as they say, I'm currently rebuilding a '55 Plymouth 230c.i. flathead 6 engine, and your tutorial on checking bore roundness and taper is wonderful! I do have measuring tools I picked up over the years but what you showed is simple and definite. I will be looking at your other series on rebuilding the 4.0l for more tips and tricks, thank you so much for doing this!!! You're helping all of us "garage" mechanics keep our old iron alive!
I've done this in 1000s of engine block's & diesel engines in chassis rebuild with zero problems. Only one job my mechanic dropped socket down the intake and started the truck ruining the cylinder head & piston. That's the only come back I ever had from honing cylinder walls for a refresh rebuild.
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Another great lesson. Grazie zio Tony.
Just caught your first video… subscribed and liked before it was over. Great job!! Very informative without all the white noise….
Thanks Uncle, love how you keep it easy to understand.
Good video. I noticed someone in the comments has issues.
Good stuff. if you do measure a difference in gap as you move down the cylinder, divide the gap difference by pi (3.14) to get the diameter difference between the 2 spots along the cylinder.
Tony thank you so much for this tip. I am rebuilding a 1964 lincoln sa 200 engine driven welder. It has unknown hours but was using oil cause of valves. I just checked all 4 cylinders they are round and still in spec. Now I just gotta measure the bearings for crankshaft to buy the right ones. But this saved me so much more time. I will be finishing it up before next year!
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us, Uncle Tony.
See you tomorrow!
I'm very thankful for what I've learned from this man
Never seen it done without a tool. Awesome
So glad I found your channel so much information I needed to know. Very appreciated
I’m rebuilding my 4.0 that was a 4.7 stroker for about 80k miles before the mains went out since I built it in 2008-2009. I sent the block and crank to Carolina crankshaft and had them fix my main journals and set my clearances right. I am going to start putting back together as soon as my tax return hits my account. It’s a beast engine! That’s for sure!!
I had an old Datsun A12 engine that had a definite dip in cylinder wall from a previous piston failure. After 3 years of thrashing and neglect, that dip was gone when I stripped engine.
While I have the snap gauges and micrometers to take precision bore measurements, I usually take rough measurements (like Tony just did) first just to give myself a heads up on the condition of the bore. They're usually pretty close to the precision measurements anyway. I also combine the 2 methods that Tony used with the light and feeler gauge into 1 operation. I'm guessing that he does too and only did them separately for the sake of clarity in the video for first timers...which isn't a bad thing.
That yellow engine is beautiful
Uncle Tony has a very good video on how to paint a cast iron block. I wish somebody would do the same for aluminum blocks but I'm pretty sure that some high dollar paint is needed for that. Some guys are having their billet alloy blocks color anodised prior to final machining.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with those of us looking to get into this. Disregard the "gatekeepers" and trolls. Unfortunately, they seem to occupy most of our hobbies like reloading, amateur radio, motorcycles and automotive repair. Their goal is to dissuade others entry into the activity while at the same time, bitch about the lack of interest into said activity. God bless!
This is a basic how to video for people like myself, that havent build a engine, or be more informed if engaging a engine builder.
Man I am saving this rebuilding the engine on my aveo next week
Thanks brother your my teacher have a good day 😊 Manny
I rebuilt the 318 in my durango two years ago. I have about 15k on it now and a road trip. The ridge in the cylinders was so slight I could barely feel it. Called my local machine shop and he told me he wouldn't touch it unless he bored it 30 over and assembled the short block himself. Also wanted 5k and at least 6 months to do it. Needless to say I didn't do that. gave the cylinders a quick hone and send it. So far the thing is great.
Long time ago, I had a 318. Had the heads off at 114k due to a burnt valve. Was told “you know it’s needs an .030 overbore.” Nope. Put the heads back on and the car ran like a champ to 225k until I parked the car for restoration.
@20:20 "Gasoline is my go to...," was there ever any doubt? UTG giving theatrics to the comments is hilarious. 🤣 🌋
Thanks!
Thank you!
🏆 top man ! All done using a feeler gauge, quick easy & inexpensive, excellent Mr Tony 👍
Ring trick is a great idea.. subscribed bud! Ty for these videos.
Thanks for the info tony, good stuff. Appreciate the work you and Kathy put into these videos.
I would have never thought of this in a million years.
Thanks for the trick, it helped me know what condition my bores were in before sending it to a shop. 🙏
I have used a ridge reamer, but only to remove carbon build up that was very common in the old days.
I wanna say the old model T engines had shims under the main caps and when the lead babit bearings would wear out you'd remove a shim to make it fit again and once you ran out of shims you'd pour new babit and start over
You also used a spoon to cut fresh babbitt when you poured new. Crazy what you can get away with below 3000 rpm.
@@stevetaylor9265 yeah I know on things like lawn mower engines there are no bearings and the couple I've built I didn't torque anything just tightened till it didn't turn any more by hand
I rebuilt my 302 with nothing but a claw hammer, 😅 runs great!!
Quite right so bloody well right
Like your videos build my first engine at 17 years old 1979 GM 455 throwed a rod bearing lobe working on engines ever since my brother had a state police car 1970 fury 440 magnum I was 9 years old that car was scary to me hes is 9 years older than I am and iv always love mopar . Love watching your videos feel like I'm in a class room learning how to build a engine.
Bros I inherited lots of tools and motors and After just putting a piston in a golf cart honing it etc I can't wait to rebuild these V8"s! Previously thought it was unobtainable rocket science🙃
Thank you Uncle Tony great work. Don't let the turkeys get you down.
That was a dam good rant.
OUR HARDWORKING MASTER IS AT WORK AGAIN,CONGRATULATIONS TONY MASTER
Thank God for this video
Great video Tony.
Very good................to the point.
Great video.. Very informative. I'm rebuilding an 87 BMW m20, cast iron block. Will probably send it to the Machine shop, but I'm going to check it out based on the video before I do. Thanks much.
In a machinist term I would take dykem blue and cover the area that was going to be inspected use the ring and scrape down the surface, and anywhere we didn't scrape you know that would be a low spot. I would say you'd have to have more than a thousandth of an inch to see light testing both ways to make sure
I have pulled away some good information for my Harley
This is so helpful I can’t believe it
Thanks Tony!
Regarding checking bore taper and out of roundness if the ring gap differs by 3 thou of an inch you have 1 thou taper/ovality.
I’m building mine ! And this is helping a lot thank you 🙏 💯
Bringing back memories overhauling used engines on the low dime ! Use to buy rotted muscle rusty cars , mopars for 800-1200 dollars etc performance them ,invest elbow grease and only minimal money for the fix upgrades ,Sheet metal and BONDO , lacquer spray paints ! cam and lifters , double roller timming chain, valve springs, gaskets ,bearing , rings , valve seals, oil pump and gunk and paint ! JC Whitney mail catalogue for the cheapy cheap performance parts ! Swap meets for headers , aluminum manifolds , higher stall converter , overhaul a used Holley too ! same for the rest of the car , brake pads , change the oils , swap out in 8 3/4 rear a used posi with taller gears , man those cone posi's really sucked , they wore out fast and it didn't lock up then ! had to pay the extra for the clutched ones ! , when money was no object add the 125 HP NOS BAby ! oh almost forgot the secret air induction system ! that chrome praying mantis head air cleaner without the foam insert filter removed ! keep bugs and rocks out ! and the chrome barefoot gas pedal ! must have cool factor and a sport steering wheel ! used cragers and fattest rubber with the money left ! The most important for Last ! Must have cassette deck with a booster graphic eq amp and coax 6x9 speakers , cruse and race time baby !
Glad I watched this video haha pulled my 360 FE heads off and it doesn't look too bad besides the ridge at the top on almost every cylinder haha its pretty bad. Not sure if I should buy remanufactured heads or fix mine
I remember a story of you blowing up the laundry room?? Hahaha how did that go again lmbo . Good stuff buddy. I do the same stuff never had a problem. Well not yet? And yes I’ve poured Babbitt barring’s before. Lol old technology gotta love it .
Thank you for the video Tony, very informative. You are a great resource of knowledge.
Re the existing crosshatch when tearing an engine down... If you know the engine was done right previously (competant mechanic or untouched since factory assembly) then wear patterns would show any deviations. And you should put a good crosshatch down even if the previous crosshatch is still visible, since the crosshatch acts as the teeth on a file to wear down any high spots on the ring. You match the coarseness of the finish to the hardness of the ring so that the "file teeth" become dull just when the ring seats for a good seal. Any remaining crosshatch will help hold a bit of oil for lubrication. My two cents.
What a fantastic video!
Great series!!! Look forward to it every day……. Thank you Tony!!! 👍🚗
UTG ❤
It's all in the details.
I remember you doing that outdoors with a guy who knew nothing and another with a gun on him lol. Winning team. I felt for you
Same.. that was after scraping the gasket surface with his "trusty" clip point pocket knife that jw reckoned he had scraped hundreds of gaskets with... the fact it took him half the whole build time to scrape the gaskets was a huge red flag early on. It was painful to watch and you could see it in Tony and Kathy's faces that they knew they were dealing with inexperienced people.
Good video tony!
Tony, how do you clean after honing and how do you know it's clean enough after honing?
I would note the safety factor of using gasoline is derived by having the drill above the cylinder being honed - gasoline vapors will drop, not rise. I would not try such from a side angle, as my old sears drill is a bit of an arcy/sparky device around the brushes.
My father drove a Bull Dog Mack with a 2 piston engine and a chain drive. The pistons were about a foot across . My father hated the truck but he couldn't kill it.
Tony the legend
All this talk about dingleberries, reaming and honing 😮 All that's missing are the valve stem rubbers
Before doing an operation on the engine, he educates 5 mins about the nature of the process.Great teacher and i am going to slowly build my 2.0 lt Rav 4 diesel engine with those teachings without rushing and asking some help from a reputable machine shop if the block needs to be barred or squared etc etc.But i have one question I wonder a lot , for exemple when the bore is machined the milling machine has a fixed true square reference, i mean the bore afterwords is true and correct.My question is wouldn't it be better to attach the honing aparat to a drill press or a more true turning spindled machine instead of a drill that we hold in our hand ? Isn't it going to disturb the trueness of the bore ? Or the cutting rate of the stones are not considerably high so it doesn't matter ?
Well presented, great tech session again!
Ouch. I’ve used a ridge cutter to get pistons out. Planned to bore it anyway. Good to know about using it as a reference. Many thanks
Great job, thanks.
Never Change Tony ur the best👍👍
He got it all.
Oh thank you tony I learn something
Everybody hones too fast, now Uncle Tony here too. No way that's making a 45-60 degree crosshatch pattern, more like 15-20. Slow down the RPM and/or make quicker strokes.
You didn't watch the whole video. That was not a final hone, just initial clean up.
Last time I rebuild my 355 I had a small ridge so I opted for a single berry because I was worried the ridge would keep the hone out from hitting the cylinder at the very top because it's essentially holding the hone at an angle vs perfectly parrell to cylinder so at a certain point in the stroke of hone the stones touching the ridge and the bottom of stone...if you look at that 4.0 the last .25" is still black where home isn't hitting. I don't know makes sense to me and my rings sealed fine and has run for years. I've seen a block ruined by a ridge ream from a machine shop! The finish product was the ream flus with the bore on 1 side and opposite side cut into the cylinder making a flat groove vs a ridge. So then it's re sleeve or toss it in junk pile and re sleeving a SBC isn't worth it unless it's a original OEM numbers matching block. I see the same machine shop bore a Honda 200cc cylinder so sloppy the piston clanked around when held it in with fingers, BUT a Budweiser can slid in perfectly hmmmm. Maybe the machinist was drunk and measured a can instead the piston? Lol, the engine sounded like a diesel from the piston slap and burned oil. There not in business any more. They bored my 350 block . 030 back then perfectly tho... The shop was Steego auto parts in Rockland ME. And had a machine shop out back.
Checking the bore with the ring was absolutely genius.
HOWdy U-T-G, ...
JEEP 4.0 AMC I-6 Engine
Thanks
COOP
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA
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How about a 2.4 dohc Chrysler motor from mid 90s is it in the same engine group as the jeep engine? It's a cast iron block w aluminum head. Great videos!