Larry:

Thanks for the info. I was leaning toward the Goetze rings, but did not have any info about them. Are these made of steel, or cast iron, or ductile iron and what kind of coating do they have - chrome or molly? It makes a difference when honing because ring composition requires a matching grit to get a good seal (molly rings usually 280 perhaps 320 grit depending on how rough the stones are and their age, chrome 220 perhaps 240 depending on the stones used, cast iron 220 maybe 240 again depending on the stones used). Then I use a bead hone (some call it a soft hone) to finish the cylinder bore by removing some of the debris left from the stones and achieve a plateau-like surface that is close to a "broken-in" cylinder bore.

Yep, I measured the cylinders 6 ways (3 along each axis) with snap gauges and a micrometer (I don't like snap gauges as they are hard to get an accurate reading with, my dial bore gauge is 10mm short of being able to measure these cylinders, so I had to use what I had). Taper and out-of-round measurements are well within spec. Although the cylinders and pistons are worn a bit, they are under the service limit by a fair amount. Two of the cylinders have honing marks at the very top and the other three show significant hone marks right at and just below the area where the top compression ring changes direction. Virtually no ring ridge is present. I believe honing (removing the least amount possible) to create a good polished surface for the new rings to seat on will work fine and provide a good seal for compression and prevent oil consumption.

Any other comments or suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Tom

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1977 300D: 300,000+ miles

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