Using a Flex Hone - Tips & Results!

[@BriGuyGarage]

TWO NOTES: I’ve gotten a few comments about the amount of strokes I used in this video. These are the instructions directly from the manufacturer: “Honing time of 10-45 seconds. 5-60 strokes. Hone until desired finish is achieved.” I went with the higher end of the scale, as my cylinders were a little beat up. I tested this out on other cylinders prior. I performed 5 strokes at a time until I had the desired finish. I recommend you do the same. Your honing time will vary based on your cylinder condition. Additionally, I’ve used this hone again since making this video. I had even better results increasing my speed on the last handful of strokes. Seriously - move it in and out of the cylinder as fast as you can, then check your cross hatch. It came out even better than the results seen here.

[@max.r1484]

you did a good job👍I'm doing the exact same thing.I have a Chevy 350 4 bolt Main actually came out of a 75 2 ton van👍

[@OFFICIAL_MODBOSS]

Good to see other NY people on KZbin. This video was so helpful with my first engine rebuild thank you for posting

[@BriGuyGarage]

Is it that obvious? 😂

[@sunswimgitman]

Really well done, thoughtful, clear explanation and demonstration! Thank you!

[@BriGuyGarage]

Thank you for the kind words, glad it helped!

[@milomanx6531]

I shoot for a 40 degree crosshatch. It's a delicate balance of RPM and speed of the strokes. I use cast rings in my BBC builds, with a 400 grit flex hone. I ran the engine over a 1000 miles and the cylinder still had the cross hatch and the rings did break in. Where did you read 280 grit for cast rings? I read 400 grit on all rings except chrome rings. A commenter posted that too much ball honing takes too much metal out. That's incorrect. I honed a cylinder in the past 20-25 strokes and it barley took out over .0001" , one ten thousandth's. I have a good dial bore gauge, Mitutoyo. Checked it before and during.

[@dins.garage]

what 400 grit hone did you use? The one I used did not provide even finishing so I was thinking of redoing it with 240g and just rebuilding with that.

[@KingEdwardA]

Chrome rings are more of a hot rod thing right? I'm rebuilding my VQ40DE. Head gasket failure but took the engine out to place rings and bearings since the engine is out.

[@JohannesC-c9k]

Do you need to set the drill clockwise and anticlockwise to get a crosshatch?

[@ct1762]

crosshatch really looks about 20 degrees to me. i was taught to go really really slow with the rotation speed, but quickly with the in/out. that always assures a 35-45 degree hatch. those crosshatch gauges are nice to use to see exactly were you are. then knock down the high spots with a stiff nylon brush.

[@Seeeeyaaaa]

Hi dude, one thing you might mention is to be careful bottoming out the hone in the cylinder, you can hear it bouncing off the casting on the bottom of the sleeve. This is what can cause scratching in the cylinder if you damage one of more of the hone stones and then continue to hone with it. Also! ATF is a great cleaner, you could simply spray the cylinder down with brake clean and then wipe the cylinder with clean ATF until your shop towels come out clean. No need to add water this way, in fact this is the way motortrend does it and it doesnt promote rusting of your fresh surfaces. Looks like it all went well for you bar 1 cylinder, but to be fair your cylinders looked fairly rough to begin with, i probably would have used a 150-180 and then finished with a higher grit, but that means buying 2 flex hones.

[@SOLDOZER]

Its bouncing off the wood table you moran.

[@allneedsmobiledustlessblas2859]

Good job on the video! I haven’t decided if I’m going to do a budget build or if I’m going with a full machined rebuild.

[@BriGuyGarage]

I’ll tell you this.. whatever you think you’re going to spend, multiply it by 3!

[@YogisGarage]

Good video! I've seen/read that some folks are reversing the motor on the drill to get the same cross-hatch. I own the 3" version and will be doing it on my 2.0 FSI Audi block. Afterwards I 'll be hot-tanking it to get all the crud off of it. Nice work!

[@BriGuyGarage]

Interesting, I'll have to look up the theory behind using it in reverse. Thanks for sharing!

[@jdm68]

I know this was 2 years ago but how did it work out? I’ll be doing it to the same block soon enough.

[@YogisGarage]

@@jdm68 it’s worked out great. The car is running great and my son uses it every day.

[@gwolfe1231]

I recognize that flashlight ! Just bought a Flex-Hone for my 1965 Ford 200 ci.

[@tristynleetl]

Thanks for uploading!

[@fazzeg3]

Hey briguygarage, great work, very nice end finish, just a quick query, on the drill settings is the cross hatch achieved on clockwise or counter clockwise settings? and would you say it’s critical if not done in one direction? cheers fazzeg3

[@BriGuyGarage]

Seeing as a brand new flex hone as near perfectly circular “balls” on it, it doesn’t appear that it’s intended to be rotated in only one direction. The manufacturer recommends running it in a clockwise direction, removing the tool, switching it to counter clockwise, and to perform a few more strokes. So it doesn’t appear that rotation is limited to one direction.

[@riisa69mh]

If I do this with a 320 grit flex hone on std cylinder bore that’s still good (since I’m replacing my main bearings ) can it affect or change my bore size or piston ring size ?

[@brandonbell8159]

I’m not the guy doing this but no it’s not gonna change the bore size or mess with the rings. But that in mind you also don’t usually want keep honing it as long as he did either lol.

[@laurentiuvlog6112]

I order the 120 Grit . What YOU use for honing ?

[@laurentiuvlog6112]

Greg Hunder thank YOU for the answer bro !

[@BustedClassicGarage]

Thanks for the very informative video! About to start building a 400 sbc for my 79 Z-28.

[@wesleywilliams8129]

Has that block been sleeved?

[@laiky71]

any idea how much material you removed?

[@mathieuperrin8781]

hi, I'm a community manager from France and a work for Sedimat (this is the business who had the exclusivity for selling flexhone in France) I just want to knew if I can use your videos for marketing strategy. thanks for reading.

[@BriGuyGarage]

Hello. Do you want to use this KZbin video link, or do you want the actual video file?

[@raymondpinder3692]

Thanks for an excellent video.

[@Nelval573]

Is the the 4 1/8 size hone

[@BriGuyGarage]

The one used in the video is a 4" flex hone. You can see the part number at 1:43

[@carlosserrano3920]

This video is far under liked. Thank you for your video and your extensive how to.

[@BriGuyGarage]

You’re very welcome, I’m glad it was helpful!

[@user-pw7wl3nu1l]

What grade are you using?

[@BriGuyGarage]

I finished with 240 grit. That is the correct finish for my application. It will depend on what material your piston rings are. You can Google it or ask your manufacturer.

[@user-pw7wl3nu1l]

@@BriGuyGarage 👍thanks

[@user-pw7wl3nu1l]

@BriGuyGarage What grid did you start with? Let me refresh that. How many grids did you use?

[@BriGuyGarage]

It will depend on the condition of your cylinders. If they are in good shape, and all you need to do is prep the surface for new rings, then simply starting with your finishing grit is fine. However, for example, in another engine I just did, there were some light scratches - so I started with 180 grit, then finished with 240. Any significant scratches or cylinder damage will require a machine shop to properly hone the cylinders.

[@user-pw7wl3nu1l]

@@BriGuyGarage Thank you very much.

[@TheDracfink]

so is there a difference of this ball type versus the one with rectangle stones?

[@carlosserrano3920]

I'm wondering the same thing sorry you haven't got an answer yet for us both.

[@BriGuyGarage]

Sorry for taking so long, been building this car non stop. It’s my understanding that both can be used, but the flex hone / ball hone is the better choice.

[@catsandcarsringtailgang6188]

@@BriGuyGarage NOPE! Ball hone WON'T true up cylinders! Fact. You choose poorly.

[@SOLDOZER]

@@catsandcarsringtailgang6188 Honing done not true up cylinders. That would require an overbore.

[@catsandcarsringtailgang6188]

@@SOLDOZER incorrect ! @ 2:06 but worth seeing from start. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmSmo5uVirepqM0 This backs this up.

[@ronaldpotter3962]

their miracle balls !

[@rhythmrockets3583]

Thanks for that...very informative

[@shootermcgavin2819]

flex hones conform to all warpages. use a stone style hone

[@frankc1430]

You never use a dingleberry hone unless you know that the cylinders are true!

[@SOLDOZER]

If you're using a dingleberry hone you dont care if your cylinders are true.

[@frankc1430]

@@SOLDOZER Personally if I'm going to pull an engine out and do some kind of rebuild to it and put it back in a car, I'm going to spend the money and make sure it's straight. But I'm the kind of person who likes to do the job right the first time.

[@rickss69]

No sense in honing any cylinder that is out of round. That is what boring is for.

[@jjmccloud]

Did he say 60 strokes 😳 i thought 20 was wat to many 🤣🤣

[@BriGuyGarage]

That is the recommendation directly from the manufacturer. Honing time of 10-45 seconds, 5-60 strokes until desired finish is achieved. This engine has been running now with no issues and the rings appear to have seated and sealed just fine.

[@DM-ir6pc]

Ur doin it too much, ur taking alot more material off than u think.. u only need to go in & out no more than 7-8 times

[@BriGuyGarage]

That is the recommendation directly from the manufacturer. Honing time of 10-45 seconds, 5-60 strokes until desired finish is achieved. My cylinders were a little beat up, so I went with the higher end of the scale.

[@SOLDOZER]

Honing does not remove material.

[@paleaura8126]

@@SOLDOZER Totally wrong Does honing a cylinder remove material Copy Searching for: Does honing a cylinder remove material Searching for: Does honing a cylinder remove material Generating answers for you… Generating answers for you… Yes, honing a cylinder does remove material. Honing is a stock removal process intended to perfect bore geometry and size by removing a minimal metal layer while generating a finish pattern to provide optimum lubricant retention1. The amount of material removed during honing depends on various factors such as the type of hone, the grit of the stones used, the condition of the cylinder, and the specific honing tool that is used23. Is there anything else you would like to know? 😊