David Floyd

Do NOT use the "grape" type hone.

snappy

dave why would you not use them?
i have read several places now that out blocks are cross-hatched and the grape-ones are fine to use, due to them not being so abrasive and creating a perfect cross hatched wall. I read that you should only use them to smooth out the walls and not to try and bore out or remove deep scratches.
Over at pelican's forum there were several people who did this and it worked perfectly for them.

They seem to say you only need 5 up and downs for I think 15 seconds total to give it a perfect smooth cross-hatched surface.

It's interesting how there is not definitive yes no on this, being such a fundamental thing and cleaning up the cylinder wall.

Personally I have not done this so I am only searching for some concrete data to help make a better call on weather to use it or not, I dont mind it either way and personally would send the block out to get done. But that should be the purpose of discussing something here to weed through the fluff and get some pro's and cons/

David Floyd

Check page 8 on above manual, tells the correct final hone

I did use a "grape" hone on my engine, but.... I have steel sleeves.

BC

The alusil is not a coating. It is the entire engine material. Reynolds aluminum with silicon in it, at a certain percentage.

The final honing stages are to wear back the aluminum to show the silicon material that actually is IN the aluminum. The grapes grinder is for iron blocks that require a cross-hatch. The ALUSIL block does not have crosshatch. Nikasil is diamond honed and is a coating.

Again, Alusil is not a coating.

dganapol

I just went through this. Last June, I started a rebuild and did a lot of research. My engine used about a quart of oil for every 300 miles. I had the onion syndrome, I only wanted to go so far and then rebuild. Finally I had to take the engine out of the car and had it in pieces in the garage. I listened to everyone. It was about 50/50 to touch the cylinders or not. I purchased some measuring equipment (got to love ebay) and measured everything. The cylinders were exactly 100mm. The pistons were worn at the skirt. The rings were completely out of spec. Now what do I do? I decided to put new parts in and not touch the cylinders. The roundness spec is so tight, that if I even touched it with a pad, I would change something. I even looked at the "grape". On the 911 site one picture shows the results, the cylinder was ruined. It has now been 1500 miles ready for a belt adjust and no oil burning. In my opinion if the cylinders walls look clean and not scored, I would not touch them. Anyone wants pictures please let me know.
Good Luck,
David 87 951 burg
Scotts Valley,CA