Posted by bdk on August 18, 2000 at 12:51:49:
In Reply to: Rings & valves posted by Al Evangelista on August 17, 2000 at 19:06:02:
Any idea what caused your rings to break?
A re-ring and hone isn't a bad idea, but you may as well replace the rod bearings. They're cheap enough and you'll have it apart anyhow. You may find out that they are through the bearing material (into the copper) and need to be replaced anyways, plus you may regain some lost oil pressure.
As was mentioned in another post, if you aren't replacing/repairing the guides and grinding the seats, there's limited value in even pulling the valves out (unless you have a leaking or burned valve).
Use assembly lube on the bearings, but DO NOT use assembly lube on the rings or cylinder walls. Use clean engine oil only. Assembly lube may inhibit proper seating of your new rings, causing excessive oil consumption. Check with the ring manufacturer to make sure. They can suggest the proper grit honing stones for optimal break in as well.
Also, if you are using a ridge reamer, you should probably use a conventional hone rather than a dingleberry hone. You can probably rent a good quality hone from the local auto parts store for less than the dingleberry hone would cost to buy anyhow. The conventional hone will leave a less wavy transition between your ridge reaming and the original cylinder wall. Be careful with the ridge reamer, they can get cocked pretty easily and ruin the surface of the cylinder. If you can't snag a fingernail on the ridge, just hone it. Your maximum cylinder wear will be just under the ridge (highest cylinder pressure there), so any cylinder wall out of round conditions should be notable there.
Valve springs are probably OK due to the low performance nature of the engine. Just do a good visual inspection and height check for any obvious problems (all intakes roughly the same height, all exhausts roughly the same height). Again, I wouldn't even bother with the valves unless there is an obvious problem.
My opinion: If you aren't going to pull the engine out to do a proper overhaul, just fix what's broken and drive it! You won't save any money doing this, you'll just delay the inevitable.