My two cents....
Pete:
Been rebuilding engines for years.... never had an issue putting sleeves in motors and having "like new" performance. Much has to do with the skill of the machinist as Jack says, the finish, how nicely the finish tools are sharpened, and the interference fit tolerance. We shrunk the sleeves in dry ice before inserting them -- and trust me for the hundreds of sleeves we put in all types of motors, not one ever walked or had a problem.
However, we generally never put more than two in a block. Call me cautious, but remember you are removing material from the casting. Dad (a 50 year machinist) always said that if you removed too much (even if you know what you are doing), there will be nominal distortion of the casting. This can be compensated for with a decking and align bore. But to be on the safe side, I generally advise customers to not put more than two sleeves in a motor (unless it was a stock sleeved motor to start with).
Also, as to the thickness of the walls, small blocks have substantially LESS meat than a big block. Even though GM made blocks with lots of meat in the 60's and 70's, we never went above .060 on a small block. Consider the 400 -- always had an overheat problem and was noted for cracking in the cylinder wall. Too much bore -- not enough meat.
I would fix the bad cylinder and sleeve to .030 and be done with it. I would not put 8 sleeves in and rebore to STD. We charged 50.00 (including the sleeve) in 1989 :-)
Hope this helps -
Pat
Pete:
Been rebuilding engines for years.... never had an issue putting sleeves in motors and having "like new" performance. Much has to do with the skill of the machinist as Jack says, the finish, how nicely the finish tools are sharpened, and the interference fit tolerance. We shrunk the sleeves in dry ice before inserting them -- and trust me for the hundreds of sleeves we put in all types of motors, not one ever walked or had a problem.
However, we generally never put more than two in a block. Call me cautious, but remember you are removing material from the casting. Dad (a 50 year machinist) always said that if you removed too much (even if you know what you are doing), there will be nominal distortion of the casting. This can be compensated for with a decking and align bore. But to be on the safe side, I generally advise customers to not put more than two sleeves in a motor (unless it was a stock sleeved motor to start with).
Also, as to the thickness of the walls, small blocks have substantially LESS meat than a big block. Even though GM made blocks with lots of meat in the 60's and 70's, we never went above .060 on a small block. Consider the 400 -- always had an overheat problem and was noted for cracking in the cylinder wall. Too much bore -- not enough meat.
I would fix the bad cylinder and sleeve to .030 and be done with it. I would not put 8 sleeves in and rebore to STD. We charged 50.00 (including the sleeve) in 1989 :-)
Hope this helps -
Pat
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