Hello all, What is this honing the vw jedi's talk about. I only ask as I am intending getting new barrels and pistons on my engine at some time soon.
'Tis the covering of your cylinder walls with fine scratches, usually in criss-cross fashion. It helps the lubricating oil stay on the cylinder walls rather than just running off, which it would do if they were absolutely smooth.
Technically the honing tool you're speaking of, is a deglazing tool!! Honing really can only be done by a machine shop with the correct piece of equipment!!
When we slapped an old barrel and piston on @vdub brvs 1600 at techenders, I "honed" the barrel by hand with some 40 grit. Better than nothing...
I seem to recall Mr Pettit being a fan of "fisting" with a sheet of fine grit , if you've left your honing tool at home...
honing helps to bed in the new piston rings for a nice even seal , on first fitting new rings the engine will pass a bit of oil until they bed in together .
I read the way to run your rings in (oo-er missus) according to mortorcyling peeps @Top Banana Racing is to select a middle gear and put your foot down, then instead of changing up, foot right off and decelerate under engine braking then repeat 3 or 4 times. This gives them alternate pressure on each side and jiggles them into place as it were. Though obviously they should be in the right place anyway!
When I was a boy, we used to bed in newly built engines on our load bank, maximum load all day, would have the turbos glowing by sundown . Heavy load or high gear and a big hill to bed rings in. We had the engine manufacturers strip engines after the equivalent of 1 million miles with no measureable wear . Our servicing and engine building wasn't to shabby !
Racing:- warm it up, thrash the carp out of it, that's run in. However after 20k it'll be fooked. Road:- what @zed said.
