reusing bearings / rehoning ?

[1fast97gsx]

I'm taking my engine apart again and putting in higher compression pistons and some cams. I'm also fixing a few oil leaks and having the block rehoned. First off ... can I just rehone the block and get another set of .020 over pistons and rings? I had it bored and honed to .020 over before, and now I just want to clean it up but I'm not sure what kind of differences just honing it would make as far as the rings not sealing properly? Do I need to bore it again and hone again or jsut honing should be ok since it's only been like 4k miles since last bore / hone? Also .. can I reuse the bearings since they have such low miles or do I need to replace them?

 

[burldude]

Actually most manufactures do not even rcomend honing unless you bore oversize . As far as your bearings . What do they look like ? If they look new use them if they are thrashed dont . If you see evidence of the babbit wearing through then deffinetly replace.

 

[1fast97gsx]

well I didn't take it back apart yet, but I was just wondering because some friends were telling me you can't reuse them period. I figured as long as you put them in the same place you got them from it should be fine ...

So you're saying just having it honed is bad? It might not even be necessary to hone it I still need to check it out. Thanks.

 

[kooka]

New bearings, do a quick hone for your new rings to seat properly. Just hone until you see the crosshatch, dont hone the hell outta it.

 

[Maglin]

Actually most manufactures do not even rcomend honing unless you bore oversize . As far as your bearings . What do they look like ? If they look new use them if they are thrashed dont . If you see evidence of the babbit wearing through then deffinetly replace.

Well this is the first time I've ever heard this. Most all ring manufactures suggest you rehone with new rings. Why? Because if you don't they will never seat to the cly. walls. You will have excessive blow-by because of this. On any engine with new rings the first 30 minutes of the rings life is vital for proper break-in. I believe Total Seal sells a lubricant that has very minor abrasives added to quicked ring break-in.

But onto what you are doing? Is their something wrong with your current Pistons/Rings? And if not why would you drop that large sum of money onr new pistons/rings and not dish out a few bucks for a new set of bearings? If you take your pistons out and they aren't scored or have holes burned through them then I would re-use them. If you take them out it is a good Idea to replace the rings and rehone. You usually can tell piston condition by just looking at the cly. walls for score marks. So then you don't have to take them out and don't need to replace bearing or rings or anything.

If you do get new pistons it's also a good idea to deburr those sharp edges. They promote detonation (Knock). That is my .02.

edit: also I'm going off that you only have 4K miles and everything is running just fine. If you see large amounts of metal shavings in the bottom of your oil pan then you should replace all of your bearings. And try to find the cause of the bearing failure. Very small amounts of metal shavings in your oil is normal with a new motor during break-in.