Anybody had to sleeve a 109?

[BEATAV8]

My bore is cracked. Hair-line fracture near the top of cylinder #3.

I'm leaning towards having it sleeved.

Anyone here ever had to sleeve a 109? Any info/experiences would be appreciated.

 

[bison]

Not cost effective. Their cheap and plentiful blocks. They could be sleeved if you wanted too though.

 

[BEATAV8]

Not cost effective. Their cheap and plentiful blocks. They could be sleeved if you wanted too though.

My block already has lots of work done to it (caps, square deck).
I'm hoping a sleeve to repair my block is cheaper than buying and machining another 109 from scratch. What do you think?

 

[Nick Micale]

We have sleeved a few 109 blocks and they have done fine. Actually the cylinder can end up better than original.

Also, a few 109 blocks could NOT have a sleeve installed as there was not enough material left after boring for proper support.

Your question cannot be answered here. Take the block to a reliable and competent machine shop, and he will have to ultimately bore it for final determination.

The block will still need additional machine work if a sleeve is installed, deck surface will probably move and need redone and line bore the mains at a minimum.

 

[BEATAV8]

Nick,

Do you recall which brand sleeve you used? Was it flanged at the top?

thanks
Steve

 

[Nick Micale]

Nick,

Do you recall which brand sleeve you used? Was it flanged at the top? thanks
Steve

Don't know the brand, sorry.

It was not flanged, we leave a step at the bottom of the bore.

 

[BEATAV8]

It was not flanged, we leave a step at the bottom of the bore.

Thanks, my selected machinist said that's the way he does them too.

 

[charlief1]

The biggest advantage to a sleeve is the matereal in the sleeve is usually better than the original block. You will need to use a torque plate to hone it and as Nick said, line bore just to be safe.

 

[BEATAV8]

Line bore? Or will a line hone likely be sufficient?

I'll ask the machinist to check it for sure.

 

[Dusty Bradford]

I sleeved my original block after a pump failure grenaded the stock #1 piston. It worked out great. I raced it for 2 years after the sleeve and the person who bought that car is still driving it.

My machinist also left the step at the bottom of the bore which is the only way to do it right.

 

[turbolou]

Reply

Nick,

Do you recall which brand sleeve you used? Was it flanged at the top?

thanks
Steve

I have had several blocks 109 sleeved through the years with no problems.Shouldn't be a problem for a competent machinist. I would recommend
a thin wall sleeve. I agree with Nick that it probably may make it stronger.Back in the nineties my TT V/6 had six sleeves installed & I ran the same block for years.

 

[gossamer]

I had all 6 cylinders sleeved when the machine work was done on my block to bring it back to standard size. The engine has about 20,000 miles and still going strong with no problems at all. My machine shop also left a step at the bottom of the bores. When it's done correctly, you can't hardly see the sleeve installed. As everyone has stated, take it to a machine shop who knows what they are doing and has experience doing this. It'll be fine :smile:

 

[BEATAV8]

Well I had #3 sleeved. I used Windy City Engineering in Chicago. Got it running yesterday and went for a short drive today. So far so good.

The sleeve installation looked pretty good, especially near the deck. But the bottom of the bore wasn't as perfect as I'd like. The thrust side of the bore is smooth but the non-thrust side has thou or so of sleeve edge where the piston skirt can rub on it on the way up. The hone did a good job of cleaning that up, but it is still detectable. We'll see how it goes I suppose. I'm thinking that since it is opposite the thrust load it will be fine. So far it's running nice and strong and it's quiet.

 

[Otto J]

Im not sure why people are so afraid of sleeves and sleeved blocks.
If done right,Like Nick said it will be the strongest cylinder

 

[Nasty Wendy]

Im not sure why people are so afraid of sleeves and sleeved blocks.
If done right,Like Nick said it will be the strongest cylinder

Because it creates five weaker cylinders.......dummy.:biggrin:

 

[Otto J]

Because it creates five weaker cylinders.......dummy.:biggrin:

Eww,Damn good comeback!:biggrin:

 

[Russ Merritt]

Because it creates five weaker cylinders.......dummy.:biggrin:

that was good! Otto, you walked right into that one......