To Hone or not?

[rocks rev]

05 Ski Doo 800 Putting in new rings and pistons with around 1000mi. on cyl SHOULD I do a slight hone or not?

 

[milehighassassin]

I always hone. You are honing to take some of the glaze away. You really cannot hone the nikasil to a smaller size. Try and achieve a cross hatch pattern. Generally you should do a stone hone and not the beaded hone things.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

for what its worth..nicasil takes a special hone(Have seen guys do it with a regular hone with no ill affects)...but you will pick up a few hp by not honing(old racer trick), but for a play sled I think I would lightly hone it(crosshatch pattern is very important as MH said..when you hone go as slow as possible on drill rpm but in and out of the cylinder about as fast as you can move your arms..and keep the hone wet constantly while its turning...

 

[Goinboardin]

I've always heard the ball hones will drop into the ports and possibly chip the nikasil, thats why you need to use a stone hone.
My dad (auto mechanic) gave me the same instruction as AKSnowrider as far as how to do it.

 

[rocks rev]

Brad at FELKERS told me to use a ball hone,3-4 fast swipes, no lube. and I would be GTG.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

only problem I would have with running a hone dry is the liquid floats the cutting debri out of the ridges cut by the hone..if its not washed out of there it keeps the hone from cutting properly(the hone should leave microscopic ridges that hold oil..if the hone is run too much or dry it tends to bend over the tips of these ridges..on our big race motors we would run them up on the dyno, check for leaks/do any tuning..then when done we would pull the pistons, re ring on the same cylinder(no hone) and put it back in the chassis ready to race..

 

[diggerdown]

I use a stone hone with rather long blades and take a lot of care so it does not catch in a port. Reverse the drill for the first few passes then turn it forward. Gives a very nice cross hatch and cuts quickly. We always had to hone this way with the old heavy diesel engines to get the glazed windows out. Some say ball hones are the way to go but I've had good luck using my old stone hone. WD40 makes a good lube for it, gotta be good for something!