[SEL] Coolspring. NOW: Cylinder boring

[Arnie Fero]

Hi Mike,

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004, Michael Tucker wrote:

> I didn't realize that NOT putting in an oversized piston in when you
> bored the cylinder was an option.  Does it depend on how much (or
> little, in this case) that you bore the cylinder before you decide
> what to do with the piston?

I think the amount you need to remove is clearly a factor.  Perhaps as
Craig reads this he can offer some comments from his experience.

> I thought that if you bored the cylinder
> and left the original piston you would get a fair amount of piston
> skirt slap.

The situation is a bit different in an engine that has a cross-head.
I think you don't have the side forces with changing con rod angle that
lead to piston slap.

> Why not just try a new set of rings to see if that will
> get her running before you (or Craig) go through the trouble of
> boring the cylinder?

I thought about that.  And decided against it.  There's a bit of sadness
at the bottom of the bore (between the intake ports and the head) where it
looks like water was sitting for a LONG time.  I'll let Craig make the
final call on the bore, but I think he agrees with me that she'll be much
better off with having that bore cleaned up.

> Oh PLLLEEEAAASE!  How long have you had Bessie?  Is this the first
> time that you noticed that she didn't have enough compression to run
> or are you just using that as an excuse to cover up the fact that
> ANOTHER deadline has come and gone with no results! :-)))

Actually, the lack of compression was noticed last summer when I first
tried to get her started.  This summer I again pulled the piston and was
gonna measure the bore & piston for new rings.  It was during that
inspection that I decided against new rings without a cylinder bore.

As to deadlines....  Have you been talking to Dolly?  8-))

See ya,  Arnie