Ridge reamers?

Yes, I actually want to know about ridge reamers. I know it's not the most popular thing to do but I'd like to shave the .002" ridge off the tops of the otherwise straight and smooth bores in this 440. I already have pistons and rings that are within tolerance for this engine and don't feel the need to drop the funds to bore it and buy new stuff.

Setting up the block in my mill would be a major PITA since I'm not set up for engine work. This is a low power application and should be fine with reaming. Slamming rings into ridges is not on my favorites list.

What kind of reamers have you guys used and how well did they work? I know the results will be no better than the person doing the job.

I used them years ago until I realized that the ridge you are cutting down is the actual bore size and what you are doing is cutting that down to the worn out size of the bore. So your bores are not straight. if its just a rebuild just hone it with a ball hone and be done..

I just used whatever the parts store had for rent at the time, which I think was a Lisle brand. Worked just fine.

As long as only the ridge is removed and nothing more, there is nothing wrong with them.

It's definitely very bad to make the top of the bore
a different/larger dimension than the bottom and create more taper....however, if it can't be disassembled easily with the ridge in the way...for instance....you have to do
what you have to do. Hand hone it afterwards.

The main problem is folks not understanding it and taking too much material off, but you won't have any problems.

If the top ring in the new pistons is below the ridge, no need the remove the ridge.

If you end up using one be very careful. I see a lot of blocks that are damaged or even ruined by someone getting happy with a ridge reamer. We just had a nice solid 440 block that had to go 0.040 over due to divot taken out with the ridge reamer. That block would've been fine at 0.030 over if not for the extra divot.

Correct, I will be cutting down a standard bore to approximately .004" larger in diameter. The remainder of the bore is still straight (less than .001" out of round) in each hole. The forged pistons I have are sufficient to work with the bore in it's worn diameter. The new rings gap properly as well.

If I intended to put together a big power engine I'd bore and hone. However, I have parts on hand that are compatible and am looking for little more than stock power. This is one situation where the "dingle ball rebuild" is acceptable.

The idea is to remove no more than necessary and sneak up on the final dimension. Being a machinist, I'm fairly certain I can make that happen.

I would hone the ridge out, not ream it based on my past problems with using ridge reamers
A ball hone won't do that either

You mean the portable block boring tool? They work great for cleaning up deep scratches from broken rings, you just need to hone for about 30 minutes after boring to clean up the work.

ggggg

I like to go 15 minutes dry vs 30 with some lube. Really why even bore, just hone a bit longer. :0


you just need to hone for about 30 minutes after boring

This is the same brand I own.. I havent used it in about 50years now..
back then the blocks were softer thats why we had to use it.. back then
you couldnt pull the pistons out without using the ridge reamer

The only thing a ridge reamer does, is make the piston easier to remove, so the piston ring will not hit a square ridge when bumping the pistons out. If it has a ridge you can catch with your finger nail, it needs to be bored. If you use the ridge reamer wrong and cut too much, you may ruin the bore so it cannot be bored. If the cylinders are worn tapered, the piston ring will expand and contract as it goes up and down the bore. When you bend a piece of wire back and forth, it breaks, same thing with your piston rings. I have seen a lot of engines, guys honed and just put back together, you can pull the pistons and shake the rings off after a few thousand miles.

I was told (read it somewhere) that a new top ring might hit the ridge (right or wrong) with it still there. If you use one, put the box wrench on it & pull the cutter toward you as opposed to pushing it & change your position around the eng frequently so that you are pulling it at a good comfortable angle & press down on it at all times so it stays concentric down on the deck. It will never cut dead evenly so frequent fingernail checks & never go past flush at any point in the circumference which will likely leave a very slight ridge at some point but that is as good as it can get.

I have ridge reamed several engines and 3 stone honed, re-ringed and re bearing-ed, back through the years some are still around running good. I have a craftsman I bought in high school, back in the late 80's.Best way is to use the ridge reamer properly, 3-finger hone, then finish with a ball if you want it to look pretty. 3 finger does a better hand job than a ball because with some firm pressure you can straighten it some.

I think all you need to really know is don't take off ANY more material than you need, and as noted pull it towards you and move around. You don't want to apply too much pressure, and don't try to cut too much at once.

Have you measured what your piston to wall clearance is going to be with the forged pistons? Stock PTW was supposed to be .0025-.0035. If you're running TRWs they can require about .007 anyway, if you think you're worn about .004 it might make sense to get a hone from a shop for $100 or so, you might be straight and square at .007.

you wont take more than a 1/2 thou with a hand hone unless you would spend say a couple months honing, your arms will fall of first. Not enough horsepower in the drill.

I bought a Lysle (SP?) brand professional adjustable tension cylinder hone in the early to mid 1970s along with several BHJ steel torque plates for wedges,,426 hemi and L.A. motors, I spent one entire afternoon honing a 340 motor with both heads bolted and torque down honing from the crankcase side of the block with that mechanically adjustable tension hone with a 5/8 Craftsman electric drill motor, I was honing it to get two shadows out of the cylinder walls caused by the outer head bolts and the block not being bored and hone with a plate originally
That was the last time I tried to remove more than .0020 or more with that hone, way cheaper and easier to pay the machine shop the $40.00 for torque plate honing back then than spend 6.0+ hours doing it myself

A .002”(two thou) ridge?

10-15 seconds with a ball hone and some wd-40 in the bores ...... done.

The divots, shadows, in the top of the cylinders needed right at .0020 removed to get rid of them

You won't take a ridge out with a ball one ...It will look like you did though, look real pretty. It hits all the low spots.

To the original post all of this will work though. A properly used ridge reamer will yield the best home results for removing the ridge and removing the shadows.

It would appear the intent behind my post wasn’t made clear.

The OP has a .002” ridge (or, 1/2 the thickness of a dollar bill)he’s worried about.
I’m saying......... don’t worry about it.

Ball hone it and put it back together.

I’ve re-ringed stuff with way way way more ridge than that....... no ridge reaming...... motors ran just fine for years.

If not exceeding the worn part of the bore, ridge reaming won’t hurt anything. I don’t see how it could be argued that leaving a step in the bore is better than removing it. If the argument is that the ring doesn’t travel far enough to matter, than how does it hurt to remove the step?

I agree Thought you meant you could take the .002 out with the ball hone in less than a minute. Heck I have heard of people running moly rings on an untouched worn bore successfully. I've never done that.

The new rings will run up past the ridge. The idea of new rings smacking into a ridge several thousand times per minute does not sit well with me.

Running a three stone hone in the bores (assuming they survive impact with the ridge) will angle the stones and create a wide spot in the middle of the cylinder due to the angle of the stones.

Dingle berry hones will likely smooth the transition somewhat. However, they will not remove the .002" ridge without putting a .002" hone deeper in the hole as well. When you're done, the bore will look to have the same finish all the way down but there will be bore diameter variances along the way. That's just physics. Every ball removes metal, not just the ones you want.

Sounds like a sweep with a ridge reamer is in order then. What was the original post here?

ok re-read the first post. I have only seen one design ridge reamer. The one that has a 3 foot expanding self centering design with a floating cutter that snaps out under the ridge an then winds upward out of the bore contacting the ridge and trimming it off. They must be used with some amount of "feel" to cut nicely and straight.

I think before you are done with this you are going to regret not just going .030 over. I think the chances of using a ridge reamer to remove just .002" and still be anything close to a machinist's definition of round are pretty slim.

Somebody suggested the stock piston to wall clearance is a few thou tighter than your forged pistons need and you could bore and hone it to the forged piston to wall spec. At least you stand a chance of having a rounder straighter cylinder than what you have now.

Kevin