Hey folks,

Now that I have a garage, I am getting around to building a short block I picked up 7 years ago in LA. The guy I got it from (pretty reliable friend) said the block was all honed for the pistons/rods he gave me with it.

The pistons/rods (assembled) are not marked for which bore they go into. Is it fairly common for modern pistons and machining practices to bore/hone all cylinders to the same size and have all the pistons be exactly the same? I can take all 6 pistons and put them in one hole and 0.002-0.0025" feeler gauges will just fit between the piston skirt and the bore (same clearance on all to < 0.0005"). Should I get telescoping gauges and check all bores/pistons for individual fit? These are STD Sterling pistons for a Chevy 2.8L V6 (3.504" bore) mounted on 198 rods - all balanced.

This guy had some good connections to race machine shops in LA, so he may have had it machined on fancy equipment capable of these tolerances. Unfortunately, I completely lost track of this guy after he moved out of LA.

Also, the bore finish is cross-hatched and has a finer finish than I remember my previous new engines having, but has a fine surface rust on it due to long storage. Should I run a drill hone in there (or, , crocus cloth?) to clean it up before assembly? The rings I have are probably iron, but may be moly. Is there a way to tell ring material with inspection and should this influence the honing stones used? I'm sure they're not super fancy rings.

Thanks very much,

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988