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example cylinders, the one on the left has been rebored, and the one on the right has been rebored and honed

You can clearly see the difference between a rebored finish and a honed finish because the honing stones cut a neat cross-hatch into the rebored surface.

This does two things.

1. It cuts through the work-hardened surface of the newly bored cylinder (the boring cutter hardens the surface as it bores the barrel)

2. It helps the piston rings to bed in more easily, and helps to hold oil in the minute grooves of the cross-hatch.

These two cylinders came from a Rotax 462 cc water-cooled twin cylinder 2 stroke engine that powers one of my microlight aircraft.

(See the photos below to see my aircraft)

Minimax (Rotax 447)

This is my Minimax, a wood and fabric single seat tail-dragger type aircraft that's powered by a Rotax 447 air-cooled twin cylinder 2 stroke engine.

The photo was taken just after I'd landed at my home airfield at London Colney. I'd just flown back from the Isle of Wight, where I'd been for a fly-in in 2018.

Raven Q hybrid (rotax 462)

This is a hybrid aircraft using a Medway Raven wing and a Pegasus Q trike. This aircraft is powered by a Rotax 462 water-cooled twin cylinder 2 stroke engine.

The photo was taken just as I landed at Eshott airfield in Northumberland during the Fly-UK Round Britain Tour in 2016

Spectrum (rotax 462)

This is my Spectrum. It is the only flying example left in the UK, and is one of only 22 ever made. It's powered by a Rotax 462 water-cooled twin cylinder 2 stroke engine.

The photo was taken just after I landed at Boxted airfield in Essex for their annual fly-in in 2018.

About Bob's boring + honing services

Hi, I'm Bob, and I live in Borehamwood, Herts. From the photos above you can see what my hobby is. Others like to race, or to walk, or to cycle, or go canoeing, I like to fly, and to do this I own a collection of microlight aircraft. I do all my own maintenance on these aircraft, and as you can see from the photos at the top of the page, I rebore and hone the engines when necessary. To do this I have three different sized portable boring bars and matching sets of honing equipment. (See the 'Workshop Services' page for further details)

HOW I CAME TO OWN BORING BARS AND HONING EQUIPMENT

Years ago I worked for a motor re-engineering company in Bristol called Hartcliffe Engineering. Sadly they no longer exist, but I worked there from when I left school at the age of 15, until I was 21. During that time my main occupation was reboring and honing car, commercial, motorcycle and small industrial engines.

Most of this work was done in the workshop, where I used a collection of Van Norman portable boring bars. The one I normally used was the 944, and I had two of them, but I also had a 905 and a 777S for larger bores. For some engines, such as Gardner diesel bus engines, the bore size at either 4.75" or 5" diameter, and with a bore length of over 8", was so large that the Van Norman's weren't big enough to rebore them. For these I used a pair of huge static Paddon-Thomsen boring bars, and centred the block under the cutting head instead of centring the boring bar over the cylinder as I did with the Van Norman bars.

Van norman 944/905

The picture above shows a Van Norman 944 portable boring bar. The 905 is just very slightly larger than the 944, but the design is identical.

van norman 777s

The picture above shows a Van Norman 777S portable boring bar. This bar is somewhat larger than the 944 and the 905, and correspondingly heavier. (Note the lifting hook on top of the gearbox!)

paddon-thomsen

The picture above shows a Paddon-Thomsen static boring bar with a large diesel engine block mounted under the cutting head.

Honing in the workshop

When working in the workshop I used a Delapena Beam Stroking Honing Machine to finish the cylinder blocks I'd rebored. The picture on the right shows what they look like, and the one in the picture even has a Delapena honing head at the bottom of the honing shaft that hangs from the end of the beam stroking bar.

This was a very good tool, and was not only easy to use, but very safe as well, due to having a trigger next to one of the handles on the beam head. So if the honing stones jammed in the cylinder for any reason I could let go of the trigger very quickly to prevent injury to myself, and damage to both the cylinder I was working on, and the honing tool.

I wish I had one of those today for honing out cylinders in my workshop, but instead I use the hand tools you can see on the 'Workshop Services' page.

ON SITE AND IN SITU

As well as reboring/honing in the workshop, our company also used to send me to main dealerships sometimes to rebore and/or hone engines 'on site' at their premises. They also offered an 'in situ' reboring service, where I'd be sent out to a customer's site (both trade and private) to rebore an engine in the chassis. Although the engines I bored 'in situ' were mainly 1950's and 1960's, 4 and 6 cylinder inline car engines, I also had to rebore commercial diesel engines occasionally. For this I would normally use the Van Norman 777S, which is large and heavy, but as a young and relatively fit teenager I was able to lift it around without anyone else's help.

Having rebored the cylinders I then had to stand on the top of the engine block in order to hone them to the finished size, so it was necessary for there to be enough room above the engine for me to stand on it. It was also necessary for there to be a nearby electrical outlet that I could reach with the extension lead. So reboring cars in garages at the end of the garden wasn't normally an option unless the garage was well lit and had power, and a high enough roof for me to be able to stand upright on top of the engine block.

Although some years have passed since I worked for Hartcliffe Engineering, the training I received, and the years of practice I put in while working there have stayed with me ever since. I now have my own portable boring bars and honing equipment, and can offer you a reboring and honing service either at my workshop in Borehamwood, or at your premises.

Furthermore, because I did quite a lot of 'in situ' reboring then, I have retained the skills necessary to offer this service to my customers now. So if you have a car/van that has good access to the top of the block, and doesn't have either Nikasil coated liners or the gearbox in the sump (BMC minis etc) then it may be possible for me to rebore it for you while still in the chassis. (See the 'In Situ' page for further details)

ALL REBORING AND HONING

All prices are per cylinder, (I don't charge by time, but I will charge extra if the number of cuts exceeds two cuts per bore. Please see the Prices page for further details). Also, the price I charge includes boring to an agreed oversize with the customer and finishing the cylinder to a cross hatch finish with the honing tool. If the customer supplies the pistons and rings I check and match the ring gaps and piston skirt clearance against the manufacturer's published specifications.

PISTON(S)

Customers are welcome to provide their own oversize pistons either prior to the rebore, or after it if the expected oversize is not enough to remove the wear ridge, and a larger oversize is required. However, if the customer prefers I can supply the piston(s) as well.

ENQUIRIES

Please either send me a message (in the message box below) or phone me on the following number:

07956 689806

Let me know what service you require, and I'll do my best to help you with your requirements.

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BLATANT PLUG FOR SUMP MAGAZINE HERE!
By the way, if you have a classic bike, whether British or Japanese, why not check out Sump magazine at the following website?

https://sumpmagazine.com/

They've got a link to this website so I thought I'd return the favour, and put up a link to their website as well. They certainly seem to know what they're on about in their articles, and I've enjoyed catching up on the classic bike scene.

Brings back fond memories of my old BSA's. I had a Bantam 175, and two B33's, one after the other. Those were the days!

Bob's Boring