As many of you already know, several Goodson Tools were recently featured on Horsepower TV (part of the Powerblock on SPIKE).
This episode, called “Budget Cylinder Head Refresh” shows a quick overview of a valve job, including how to repair guides with our Bronze Liners. You’ll also get to see how easy it is to grind your own valves.
Watch the video online, then check out the Cylinder Head Supplies section of our website for the tooling you’ll need.
By Jim Tapp,
Goodson Tech Services
Last time, I briefly explained the differences between Flex-Hones® and plateau hones. This time, I’m going to explain the whys and hows of using honing oil with these (and other) honing abrasives.
Let’s start with why you use honing oil.
There are a couple of reasons to use honing oil. First, the honing oil keeps the abrasive open. An ample, steady stream of honing oil is also necessary to flush away the swarf (used abrasive grit and cylinder material). This keeps the cylinder free of partially cut or rolled material that will abrade your new rings. It is just as important for deglazing, cleaning and maintaining the porosity of your honing abrasive.
Now, let’s look at which honing oil to use.
You will want to use the same honing oil with your Flex-Hones® and Ultra-Finish Plateau Hones as you used with your rigid cylinder hones.
For a basic honing oil, we, of course, recommend Goodson HO-10 or HO-50 Clear Honing Oil. It is formulated for portable hones and all makes of automotive honing machines. This particular formulation will mix readily with other brands (including Sunnen®), but it is NOT water soluble.
Finally, how do you use honing oil?
The key to honing oil use is to use large quantities. An oil squirt-can may deliver enough oil to lubricate your push mower, but it is NOT going to be effective when you’re honing cylinders. A good solid stream of honing oil is essential to most hone sizing and finishing.
As always, if you have any questions about honing oil or honing stones, contact the Goodson Tech Services Department.
We get a lot of questions about Flex-Hones® and Ultra-Finish Plateau Hones so in this week’s Tech Tip I’ll give a quick explanation on the differences between them.
The most common Flex-Hone® is made of silicon-carbide. This is a silicon-carbide ball, affixed to a flexible nylon filament, connected to a drive shaft, driven by a portable drill. They are used to hone cast iron cylinders. Silicon-carbide is a strong, blocky abrasive that wears well and removes material quickly.
The aluminum-oxide hone is constructed just as the silicon-carbide is. The difference is that the aluminum-oxide material is most effective in steel and Nicasil cylinders. The material is a softer grain, allowing it to break down, exposing new sharp abrasive grains making it aggressive enough to remove and prepare the finish on hard material cylinders.
Diamond flex hones, being the most expensive, are our last abrasive material. These are usually used in small diameters because of the cost. The diamond abrasive removes material most effectively in non-ferrous materials such as valve guides manufactured of bronze, copper, and other alloys.
OK, now for soft hones, whisker hones, plateau hones, and ultra finish hones. Despite all of the names, they are the same thing and they are not hones in the true sense. Instead, they are a cleanup tool for materials severed in the honing process. Abrasive material is mixed into the mono filament bristles of this tool. Shaped as the other abrasive hones, this hone has no abrasive balls attached. Remember the abrasive is in the bristles in a very small amount. This hone will not deglaze, it is designed to deburr or remove severed or partially severed material hanging in the bore hidden in the hone marks.
For a more extensive explanation of the differences and uses of Flex-Hones® and Ultra-Finish Plateau Hones, check out this article in our Technical Library.
NEXT WEEK: Honing lubricants used with these hones
When you look at the specs for our valve spring kits, you’ll see coil bind height specified for every one of them. It is essential when installing valve springs that you know what this number is and take measures to avoid having your valve springs reach this. So, what is coil bind? Read on…
Coil bind is the point at which a valve spring is fully compressed so that there is no space between the coils. You do NOT want your springs to reach this position when in use since it will cause damage to the camshaft and valve train components.
To measure coil bind height, install the retainer in the valve spring and compress the spring until the coils are stacked tightly together. Measure from the bottom of the spring to the bottom of the retainer. This is your coil bind height.
So now that you know what the coil bind height is, what can you do to correct it in your head?
As always, if you have more questions about coil bind or any other cylinder head rebuilding issue, feel free to contact the Goodson Techxperts™ at 1-800-533-8010 or drop us an email.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve covered Glass Bead and Airless Blaster Parts Cleaning. Today, we’re wrapping up our series on cleaning media with Parts Tumbler Media.
Parts Tumblers
The parts tumbler does a good job of cleaning smaller components. Some advantages of parts tumbling are:
As with glass beading and the airless blaster, care must be used to avoid damaging machined surfaces.
Parts Tumbling in the Auto Machine Shop
The most common usage of the tumbler in the auto shop is in cleaning valve train parts and smaller engine fasteners. When cleaning these parts, such as valves, you need media that has weight to it. Since you’re looking to abrade larger quantities of baked on carbon you would use Steel Diagonals. (Order No. PTM-20D). As the valves are tumbled, they are bombarded by the heavier media, removing the deposits. In this instance valve stem protection (VSP-16) must be used to prevent damage to polished stems.
Irregularly shaped parts such as valve springs, retainers, etc. clean well with 
Steel Ballcones (PTM-20BC) These are a lighter weight and clean without damaging valve springs and retainers.
Ceramic Diagonals (PTM-20CR) are our lightest media and used on soft materials such as brass and aluminum. Ceramic Diagonals work well with alternator and distributor housings.
We recommend you use Parts Tumbler Solution (PT-SOL) with all of these media. This solution softens deposits for easier removal and combines with removed deposits to carrying them to the sump area of the tumbler, releasing them there.
Together with the first two parts of this series, we’ve talked briefly about various methods for parts cleaning. As you can imagine, we’ve barely scratched the surface, but this should give you enough information to get started. Don’t forget, we have a full Technical Library that includes more information about parts cleaning. As always, if you have any questions about Parts Tumbler Media or which media to use for which part, contact the Goodson Tech Services Department at 1-800-533-8010 or shoot us an email.
We started a series on Cleaning Media in last week’s Tech Tip of the Week on Glass Beading We continue today with a look at Airless Blasters, their uses and which media to use for which process. Next week we’ll wrap up this 3-part series with a look at Parts Tumblers.
Parts cleaning with an Airless Blaster is less labor intensive than glass beading and is generally used following thermal cleaning. In other words, once you’ve “cooked” the parts in a thermal oven, you use blast media to remove the carbonized materials left over.
Select the correct media for the job
Goodson stocks three cleaning media or shot for different applications. The first is Steel Shot, used primarily for removing materials from cast iron or steel. Used in a conservative manner, is effective in removing baked carbon and rust. But remember, leaving parts in a blaster too long will compromise machined surfaces, including deck and bearing mounting bores. One big drawback to steel shot is that it will rust and leave a dark red finish on parts.
Stainless steel shot is also available, in conditioned and cut wire. This material is used primarily for aluminum parts. The stainless shot won’t rust like steel shot so it doesn’t leave the reddish finish on cleaned parts. It removes soil and oxidation and produces a like-new aluminum appearance.
Conditioned Stainless is simply shot that has been blasted into a hardened steel plate, leaving a spherical or ball shaped abrasive. Again short blast times are recommended to minimize distortion and surface damage to machined areas. Dry parts are an absolute necessity to maximize cleaning while minimizing labor time.
Cut Wire Stainless is used to clean the worst oxidized aluminum materials. This media is very aggressive and used exclusively before a complete reman or repair including TIG welding (tungsten inert gas). All machined surfaces will require re-machining.
Just as with glass bead cleaning, these media require a complete soap and water scrub down before continuing the build. The cleaning abrasives can be trapped in oil galleys, water jackets, and bolt holes. Be very careful!
Check back next week for the final part of this series as we discuss Parts Tumbling and Tumbler Media.
Today we’re starting a short series on the various cleaning media available to the engine builder. We’ll be giving you tips and tricks for using each media type, including glass beads, tumbler media and airless blaster media. Check out the Goodson Tech Tip of the Week for the rest of the series.
One of the most widely used cleaning media is the glass bead. Glass beads are primarily used to blast engine components free of carbon base soils and oxidation. Blasting is done in a cabinet to contain and recycle the media being used.
The cleaning process is done with beads being siphoned from a storage area, through a hand held gun that accelerates the media with air pressure. The removed material and broken beads are passed through an exhaust system into a filter, that can be cleaned manually.
Tips for faster glass beading
Keep your air pressure at 60PSI or below.
If you set operating air pressure in excess of 60 to 65 P.S.I., glass beads will shatter upon contact with the part being blasted. A shattered bead will be removed to the filter, just like the materials that have been removed from your blasted component. This is the largest WASTE of beads, and beads equal money.
Ensure that all parts to be glass bead blasted are as dry as possible.
Blasting a part that is wet with oil or water will take more time than blasting a dry part. Always remove as much wet soil and grime as possible BEFORE starting the glass beader. Bead blasting parts is labor intensive enough, why prolong the time involved?
Remove all glass beading residue before proceeding.
Remember to clean parts after glass beading, using warm soapy water, followed by a clear water rinse. Parts solvent does not cut it. If bolt holes, water jackets, and oil galleys are involved, they too must be cleaned carefully. Be sure any orifices are clear of glass beads; you wouldn’t want a tiny glass bead compromising your engine build, now would you?
We could probably write pages and pages about the advantages and disadvantages of different styles of glass bead guns, gloves, etc., but we’ll leave that for another post.
Check back next week for another in our series on Cleaning Media.
By Jim Tapp
Goodson Tech Service
Is the grinding or cutting of valve seats taking way more time than necessary? Does it seem that hardly any of the seats are finishing on the same plane? Can’t seem to get a handle on what happened?
Is it bad leveling?
A defective cutter?
A non-concentric pilot?
Wow, we have all kinds of possibilities! And after we have eliminated one cause after another, we give up. Hey the seat’s good enough!
Not knowing the real problem, it becomes a living nightmare, head after head after head.
Ask yourself again, what have you forgotten? What else could be causing this problem? It’s easy to overlook the obvious – Replacement thick wall valve guides.
It would be wonderful deal if all replacement false guides were manufactured consistently and concentrically, but they are NOT. It has been my experience that it’s about a 50-50 dice role. Getting cast replacement guides to check out at a T.I.R. less than .001”, as they are guaranteed to be, doesn’t happen. Please don’t get me wrong, there are many guides manufactured perfectly, but they are usually a little more costly. Like always, you get what you pay for, hopefully.
How the heck do I check valve guides quickly and accurately?
With the Goodson Valve Guide Run-Out Gauge, of course. It takes a little over a minute to check a set of 16 valve guides for concentricity on both ends, after a short set up time. The part numbers for the tool are: VRG-375, VRG-385, and VRG-437, dependent on your pilot top size. This allows you to be in control of your valve seat work.
Need a little more information about this or any other Goodson tool? Call the Goodson Techxperts at 1-800-533-8010 or shoot us an email.
By Jim Tapp
Goodson Tech Services
“Aren’t all diamonds alike? Why do you guys have premium and standard grades of diamonds?” If we’ve heard it once on the Tech Line, we’ve heard it a hundred times.
The quick answer is “yes, and no.” Not much help is it? Let me explain. All natural diamonds are created the same. After sustaining millions of years of ultra-high pressure, carbon turns into diamond. So in that sense, yes, all diamonds are alike.
BUT Industrial diamonds are an entirely different breed than the glittery ones that are made into jewelry. Industrial diamonds are chosen primarily for their hardness. Unlike gemstone diamonds, they aren’t chosen because of clarity. They vary in color because while the carbon is being pressured to become a diamond, other minerals get mixed in and contaminate the pure carbon.
Even within the realm of industrial diamonds there are different types; diamond stone and diamond bort. Diamond stone is used mostly in drilling bits for mining companies and it is incorporated into single or multiple-point diamond tools, such as Goodson diamond dressing tools. Diamond bort is used as loose grain abrasive for polishing.
The bottom line is that our premium-grade diamonds are harder than standard-grade and will hold a sharp edge longer. In addition, premium-grade diamonds have more points so that they can be reset more times than standard-grade.
Yes, diamonds have a higher unit cost than most other materials, but they also outlast virtually everything so they become very cost-effective.
To learn more about industrial diamonds, check out these two sources: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/diamond/diamomyb03.pdf and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industrial-grade_diamonds
As always, if you have technical questions about any Goodson product, call 1-800-533-8010 to talk with one of the Goodson Techxperts. Be sure to check out our Technical Library for a wide variety of tech tips.