Al2011

Can a align hone be done as the last machine operation? The cylinders were already bored and honed and the decks just had a cleanup for the gasket to properly seal? I upgraded to ARP rod bolts. I can buy a quality bore gage and straight edge to check myself but it seems a align hone would be cheaper than the tools if the gage is accurate to .0001.
Any help is appreciated it's my first build

442rocketdave

Just setting a straight edge wont tell you if you are ok, the caps have to be installed and the alignment checked for each cap diameter and if they are in true alignment. If you have had every thing else done and you have a good machine shop they can align hone your block without much problem. I just had mine done today and they charged me 150.00 and its straight, they also installed the mains and miked them and clearanced the main bearings.

cutlassefi

Explain if you would please.

Ideally the algin hone should be done first, everything goes from that dimension and location, but yes it can be done afterwards.

442rocketdave

You can check your saddles with a straight edge but that does not tell you if your mains are in alignment. If you have boring bar you can check it for being round and straight. I had my block at one so called machinist and he supposedly align honed my block and he decked it. I told him to align hone it First then deck it. He did it the opposite! I took the block to real professionals and I told them he honed it and decked it and they assumed it was ok, after honing the cylinders with a plate they decided to double check it and it was out a little so they align honed it. They said they were slightly out of round and they knew I had way to much money and problems so they fixed it right! I will post a thread tomorrow on my engine rebuild, they made a tape on the balance and they took alot of photos.

captjim

The following is just my opinion, but in a perfect world this is the correct way to do it. Again, IMO.
Trim the caps and align hone to minimum spec. This will maximize the crush helping reduce the chance a bearing spins along with helping with heat transfer. Install all 5 main bearing uppers and lowers, torque to spec using whatever torque and lubrication on the bolts that will be used during assembly. Measure the bores and write the numbers down. Remove the caps and bearings and number the bearings so they will go back in exactly as before. Now have the crank grinder cut in the desired clearance. This same procedure goes for recconning the rods. Bore to minimum, install bearings, measure, cut crank to fit.
Again, JMHO.

442rocketdave

Thats what they did, they also checked my cam bores alignment with the alignment of the crank, all v8 engines have wear on cylinder axis which causes out of round conditions in the mains, and as you stated Captjim take a trim cut and align hone is the best, if you replace your caps you must align bore. I was lucky to have a machine shop that could straighten out the problem. They only took a slight cut and the bearing crush was increased which will help more heat to be taken away from the back of the bearing to the main webs of the cylinder block. It has absolute zero run out on the crankshaft. Tomorrow I will post some photo's of the align honing job. There shop is in a Youtube video named HemiHaines 472 dyno these guys are good! and affordable!