Nah we do it to the meters here at hork, they work with the same type of cylinder and piston design as an engine, but those need to move fluid and meter them accurately, so i know it works

That's the only way I've ever seen it done. Which was only once when my dad did it to the 396 that was in my Chevelle.

Bird, what are the down sides if it's dry?

IIRC deeper scoring of the piston wall, inconsistent hone lines, stuff of that nature.

You watched the video, how did the crosshatch look? Do you think we'll have an issue with it?

Looked like a good 30* angle, i dont think there will be any problems, basically you want to see long diamond shapes, <> , similar to that

Whew, Bird had me nervous! That's the first time I've ever honed a block. Every engine I've ever built had beened honed by the machine shop. The only time I saw a hone done was when my dad cleaned up the cylinder in my 396 back in 1987.

you can get a better hone using cutting fluid and what not, but on a SBF you'll be fine

A big part of this project is about the learning, so it's all good. Now, if we ruined the block I might have felt a little differently. :smack:

lol well if that happened i have a few layin around that you could have used :) and if you guys need, i have a ring depressor in my truck ive never used.

I brought mine last night and we already installed all the pistons.

oh well

Standard practise for finish honing/glaze breaking would be a ball hone soaked in ATF of a light motor oil.
As long as you guys washed the block first with warm, soapy water before final assembly, you should be okay. This VITAL step removes any iron particles and abrasive material left over from the honing process.

We sprayed each down with carb cleaner and wiped them down with a towel. Then gave them an oil bath before installing the pistons.

Perfect, you'll be fine

Thanks. This is the same way they clean out the blocks at my brothers shop when they deglaze an engine that's still in a vehicle.

Thats what we do when we assemble the meters

I was talking about it with him on Saturday. He said the same thing you did about the dry hone. He said he's seen guys dry hone before and that it shouldn't be an issue but that he recommends using oil especially if the crank is still in the block because it helps keep the stone material clumped together so it cleans up better. Since we didn't have the crank in the block he said it isn't a big concern.

yep yep, btw i dont recommend doing that with the crank still installed

Here's some time lapse from July 15, assembling the bottom end. That was a lot of fun.

Nice, were the main caps installed in the original orientation?

Of course. It's easy on a SBF because Ford numbers them and has an arrow pointing to the front. The only hiccup we had during the assembly was when Ben installed the number 5 piston in cylinder number 7 thinking SBC instead of SBF. I relized it when I went to put the cap on so we pulled it back out and installed it in the correct cylinder.

Hmmm one of the H.O. blocks i had here didnt have any numbers on them.

Are you talking about the main caps or the rods? I've had 3 different H.O. blocks and all 3 had the mains and the rods numbered from the factory.

main caps, one of the blocks didnt have numbers on it

I think the only one that wasn't numbered was the rear but it is much wider than the other so it's obvious where it goes.

hmmm maybe i didnt pay enough attention to it when i gave it away

There's also that process of elimination thing.

Picked up a seal kit for the blower for joedls today. Yes this is on the back burner, but I nibble at the edges from time to time. Thanks Joe!

Rocker stud girdles, Ive bent my rocker studs just dicking around town. Some cheap AL ebay ones will do the trick