RK Tek Pistons and honning cylinders?

[Tulumbobb]

Has anyone installed RK Tek Drop In Kit with pistons and head and honed the cylinders before installing the pistons and rings. I have heard of people doing this but Kelsey at RK Tek tell you not to do it because it will damage the nikasil coating on the cylinders. I would thing honing the cylinders lightly would be better to seat the new rings. 971 mi on a 012 Pro.

 

[trench]

That's what Kelsey told you? Doing a light honing will not remove much of the Nicosil coating. I had mine done at Riverside and it still measured well within spec for piston clearance. My understanding was that the honing process would help with breaking in the rings.

 

[RK Tek]

Has anyone installed RK Tek Drop In Kit with pistons and head and honed the cylinders before installing the pistons and rings. I have heard of people doing this but Kelsey at RK Tek tell you not to do it because it will damage the nikasil coating on the cylinders. I would thing honing the cylinders lightly would be better to seat the new rings. 971 mi on a 012 Pro.

Kelsey has NEVER said ANYTHING of the sort.... Honestly.. I do not know where this information comes from some times!!

 

[dragonweld28]

You must hone the cylinders...... Kelsey says some strange things sometimes.

 

[Clode]

If you are going to hone nikasil you must use aluminum oxide material based hone, the stone is softer ....keep in mind that the nikasil coating is very thin

 

[Lococoin]

Follow the manual.

 

[Rhodesie]

there is no chance in hell he said to not hone cylinders on rebuild. if you break through nickasil by honing cylinders then you have got one bad azz course grit stone. some of these threads are just insane!

 

[Tulumbobb]

there is no chance in hell he said to not hone cylinders on rebuild. if you break through nickasil by honing cylinders then you have got one bad azz course grit stone. some of these threads are just insane!

I called RK Tek about 3 weeks ago because people on Snowest were giving him a lot of bad posts there, bad customer service, doesn't return calls or messages left, all kinds of crap was being said about the guy. I called him just to see if he would answer his phone, and I've always wanted to get one of his drop in kits because so many people said how great it is in the Pro engine. I asks him not a lot of questions but I was curious if I could put this in my sled myself in my garage never having taken a sled motor apart to that degree before. I was worried mostly about honing the cylinders myself in my garage. I don't own those tools and have never used them before anyways. I swear to god that is what the man said to me. I even asked the man's name at the end of the conversation, he told me his name was Kelsey. That is no BS. I don't know him at all, never talked to him before, it all seems pretty strange now.

 

[Tulumbobb]

Kelsey has NEVER said ANYTHING of the sort.... Honestly.. I do not know where this information comes from some times!!

Go on youtube and search Nicasil Cylinder Care, video by Jeff Slavins Racing. Watch it!! The man tells the same story Kelsey told me never hone a Nicasil coated cylinder!!!! He says it over and over in this video. You just use a scotchbrite pad on them, which after watching the video I remembered that is excactly what Kelsey told me. If you guys have honed your cylinders it may not have been the thing to do. Watch the video!!!!!

 

[rmscustom]

Post #55 In the Fyi thread Kelsey says to deglaze which I'm assuming is the same as honing.
Don't know why I cant post a link?


edit: I just seen Kelsey already responded above. lol

 

[adamg]

This thread became a car wreck quickly.

 

[RK Tek]

Has anyone installed RK Tek Drop In Kit with pistons and head and honed the cylinders before installing the pistons and rings. I have heard of people doing this but Kelsey at RK Tek tell you not to do it because it will damage the nikasil coating on the cylinders. I would thing honing the cylinders lightly would be better to seat the new rings. 971 mi on a 012 Pro.

You can hone the cylinders all you like and unless you are using a diamond hone the nikasil will remain the exact same size as before... It is like rubbing a piece of wood on a rock if you are using anything other than a diamond stone..

So.. if you ask me if you should DIAMOND HONE the cylinder, I would absolutely say "NEVER" but , again, any other hone will NOT change ANY bore shape or dimension so you can use those at your own will without issue as long as you FULLY clean the cylinder after the deglaze.

It is always wise to de-glaze or hone (with a NON DIAMOND stone) before any new piston install...

BUT you do not want to actually diamond hone the cylinder.. NOT because it will damage the nikasil but because it will ALTER the cylinder

Unless you believe the BS that is floating around regarding the cylinders being out of round and not in spec (total scare tactic and BS!)..... keep the honing regulated to a "grit" style hone or even the mentioned scotch brite pad technique... As for the Slavins vid.. I can not say that I agree with it ....

Hope this helps