I bought a nice LS6 block with a good standard bore. I want to give it a light hone before I install the pistons. I'm a total newbie to purchasing hones. I think I want a ball hone. I'm reading they are the easiest to use. What size ball hone do I need to purchase? Is there a recommended brand? Chilton's gives a good tutorial on the proper use of a hone but any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

A ball hone isn't designed to remove material, it basically just "resurfaces" the cylinder. The best route would be to take it to a machine shop to hone in a rigid hone with a torque plate. That will get the cylinders to the proper size as well as reduce taper and out-of-round.

 

Your point is very well taken. I work in a machine shop (metal...not automotive) and have already checked the integrity of the bore in regards to taper and out-of-round using a calibrated bore guage. I'm comfortable with the tolerances I'm seeing. All I need to do is exactly what you stated, just a resurface of the cylinder so my rings seat properly. I'm at a point that I'm lost now because I have no idea how to purchase a ball hone.

 

Did you check those dimensions with a torque plate? Are you still planning on going to a 3.902" bore?

You can get a ball hone from Brush Reasearch MFG in whatever grit you prefer. I used their customer service to get the part number for a ball hone for a size and finish appropriate for my application (not an LS1).

 

I though i read somewhere that you don't have to use a torque plate on an aluminum block engine. Is that true?

 

No, I'm planning on sticking with the stock bore. I did not measure with a torque plate. The block has very low miles on it. I want to preserve the final bore for another build and as stated earlier, the bore on it now checks out fine. Thanks for the tip on obtaining a hone.

remauto1187... I heard just the opposite. Aluminum blocks move around quite a bit. If you are going to bore, best practice is to bore then use torque-plate hone to get your final bore dimension.

 

It may have been just that it is not needed during the bore. I know i read something about that in one of my LS build books. Ill look it back up tonight and give the book and pg. number that i read it.

Im not saying one way or the either....I dont know for sure what the standard practice is. Im simply trying to find more info on the subject and see what the majority do.