Re: How much to bore and replace pistons?
hello clams<br /> dude whats uh..the deal?<br /> most people with a 3/8ths drill in the garage cant match the precision of a gang drill machine in a solid fixture that the machine can be set from 3 to 20 or so strokes per minute with an almost infinate setting of speeds. <br /><br />Which is exactly *why* they can do more harm with anything rigid. If they run the drill at a "medium" speed and stroke the bore for about a 20 count in both directions (with well oiled dingleberries) they will break the glaze and have minimal chances to screw up the bore. Remember, we're talking engines that are usually a total loss (cost wise) if they can't be fixed at home. I'd much rather cut someone's losses with the berries than anything rigid.<br /><br /> in all the sleeves I have installed in crossflow engines and the sleeves I have installed in loopers. I have never seen one that we did not cut the port radius by hand.<br /><br />Some engines have a very wide port and a dingle berry will eat up the port radius and shorten piston ring life. <br /><br />OK, but on the old inlines the factory *used* the berries. They still might, that picture was early 80's.<br /><br />Agreed, but who am I to argue with the OEM? If the berries worked then, they'll work today. Care to explain port radiusing to a noob? Want him in there with a <gasp> file after a bore job?
<br />I don't. But I can explain how to hold the drill perpendicular and give some quick lovin' to his six holes.
<br /><br /> And yes an anchient inline merc is a crossflow I dont care if they did call it Direct charge. <br /><br />Totally agreed - "Directed Charge" was more like it. Chalk another one up for the Mercury marketing boys.
<br /><br /> So I will stick to what I said cause I have seen some destroyed by improper use of the berries. <br /><br />So we can agree to disagree but dont show me pics from 20 years ago
<br /><br />I believe you, but I still think the spring loaded hard hones are even MORE dangerous in the hands of a Noob with a drill - no? <br /><br />But they are the only pics I had,
and remember that site is current, the pic is old - I bet Mercury *still* uses them on steel sleeves.<br /><br />show me someone that can do this by hand with a dingle berry. <br /><br />You really want a picture of me??
<br /><br />Its almost like people putting tin foil in the hubcaps to confuse police radar because planes dropped it as chaff during WWII. the only thing in common was it is still tinfoil. <br /><br />Hey! You mean my tinfoil hat *won't* stop them from seeing inside my brain. And here I thought it would stop the VOICES!!!! PLEASE STOP THE ALIEN VOICES!!! whew.... Ok I'm better now.<br /><br /> and after reading the web site it became apparent with the DRY SHAFT casting comment that the guy who wrote this at merc now sells opti-pops. <br /><br />Perhaps, but I got $100 says they *still* use the dingleberries. <br /><br /> the last dingle berry hone I bought from snap on says not to reverse the hone. <br /><br />And my cousin told me never to reverse Black Sabbath Paranoid while on acid. Oh well. PLEASE STOP THOSE VOICES!!!
<br /><br />I use them for certain applications I am not saying never, I just said be very careful or it will do more damage than good. <br /><br />We agree there. All I was saying is of the methods available to the home mechanic, the berries are the lesser of all evils.<br /><br />The merc factory blocks also were new and had no core shift or taper or egg. the hones they used were also of a paticular size not a general purpose thing from napa that covers from 2 3/4" to 4". <br /><br />Yes, you need an (off the shelf) 3 inch flex-hone - the bores are about 2.9 inches. Kinda hard to overtension 1/10 of an inch if you try to keep it in the middle. If anything the dang eyebrow cutouts in the head area tend to damage the hone by snagging the poor berries at the end. next time I buy a new hone, I'm having stainless steel disks made to drop in there to protect my poor dingleberries.<br /><br />I am not trying to argue and if it works use it, you seem to be an experienced tech so I wont argue methods. I will caution others about what can happen if care is not used and why and what the damage can be. <br /><br />I'm *very* experienced *only* in the 99ci direct charge motors and the smaller variants. All I'm saying is that compared to rigid devices and files and stuff - I can at least *explain* how to safely use dingleberries in a paragraph or less. Anytime you put a strange power tool in a bore - there's risk. But if the factory used it, and all the 99ci racers I know use it, Who am I to argue?<br /><br />Peace...<br /><br />-W
