Piston replacement and ridge reamers

[Paul 300 U]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

 

[old]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

If you take one of your longer finger nails and run it up the inside of each cylinder your likely to catch it on the ridge. Some times one does get luck that the ridge isn't big enough to stop the removal of the piston but it can still be big enough to break new rings is the ridge isn't removed.

 

[Farmalldude45]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

Starter side is thrust side. Thus, it wears more
BTW, I fear you are going to regret not getting cylinders bored for oversize pistons. With that much ridge, you are bound to have a lot of cylinder taper which will result in short ring life. If I wasn't going to rebore, I would probably rering old pistons and move on. I would certainly measure old pistons to see how much out of tolerance they are and base decision to buy new pistons on that. Good luck.

 

[John Deere D]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

QUOTE:
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

On a four stroke internal combustion engine......there are forces that produce downward pressure on the AREA of the PISTON Crown.

Depending on which stroke the piston is on, will decide the point of most contact the rings have on the cylinder bore.

This is usually the side of the piston that is opposite the piston pin (or wrist pin) and experiences the greatest load when the piston moves down the cylinder...."Power Stroke"
The rotation of the Crankshaft also comes into play...
Bob...


Intake stroke......
Compression Stroke...
Power Stroke.......
Exhaust Stroke.....

 

[used red MN]

Those are small diameter pistons so that is part of the reason they came out easy and your ring ridge may not be that bad. The fact that you honed the bores before using the ridge reamer exaggerates the wear shone by using a flat stone hone. I am sure you didn’t know any better, but buying new pistons is not the norm for a re-ring job. Only if pistons are found with a lot of wear or the ring grooves are wore so the rings are to loose in the grooves.
Here is a to the thread that has more discussion and photos of what he has going on. Previous post

 

[Paul 300 U]

Used red. Yes. I got it a bit backwards. I thought I did my homework. That said, I wanted a few more horsepower so I bought the dome top pistons. It was about $100 more than just buying new rings for old pistons. I figured a few extra horses on a cub was worth it since the additional cost was relatively small. Thanks. Paul

 

[Paul 300 U]

Starter side is thrust side. Thus, it wears more
BTW, I fear you are going to regret not getting cylinders bored for oversize pistons. With that much ridge, you are bound to have a lot of cylinder taper which will result in short ring life. If I wasn't going to rebore, I would probably rering old pistons and move on. I would certainly measure old pistons to see how much out of tolerance they are and base decision to buy new pistons on that. Good luck.

Farmall dude 45. I agree, ideally I'd rebore. This tractor will probably see about 30 hours a year maximum. My wife wants to plow the driveway and cut some grass.
I figured I'd draw the line on cost pretty tight. I'm using dome top pistons to hopefully pick up another 2 or 3 horsepower which should help with grass cutting. The net cost on the dome top pistons versus just new rings for the old pistons is about $100 which I thought was a good value for a couple extra horsepower. Thanks for the suggestion! Paul

 

[nashranch]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

I couldn't find one here locally so i just bought one off amazon..it worked good ...here's a link

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-36500-...729992323&sprefix=ridge+reamer,aps,210&sr=8-1

 

[560Dennis]

Auto parts have a loan a tool process . Turn back in after your finished

 

[old]

I couldn't find one here locally so i just bought one off amazon..it worked good ...here's a link

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-36500-Ridge-Reamer/dp/B000P0ZK1O/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BZ7S4ONCZT3I&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dKPg3YzKiVnqT92CBgnIFHO7gnTSKcagLTAsLVpEY2YhJlHoMPUBZcuvh9-GhruhXZZisxi8XGUpda0qUizOZgkb89Jwf7bcItPM0XLNFgXfJXzgDwBTvESRS3Eyw9MsdzPXlA1jWlgTPtsP09dn_0ewiMmFBk1NY2pZTUE-SehXaZ-XyvC7eQdNcAbfHgB_v06CxetRMi4c-RsOM4oJpbDcsCuWcaZl9OyO19AaMj4.AnJ88R-dcZLG6XMHmcifvasINT61muggoZDlm7PS2o4&dib_tag=se&keywords=ridge+reamer&qid=1729992323&sprefix=ridge+reamer,aps,210&sr=8-1

ANY AUTO PARTS STORE SELL THEM AND THERE A NOT ALL that high priced

 

[Paul 300 U]

The chain auto parts stores around me are all about an hour away. Not all, including napa, have a loaner or rental program. One store had a program but you have to return it in 48 hours or your deposit becomes the purchase price. That's fair but they didn't have a ridge reamer. Auto zone had one shipped from another store and allows at least 30 days to return. I was very pleased to say the least. I picked it up last night and plan to use it tomorrow.

 

[Paul 300 U]

This is related to my previous post regarding new pistons and valves for my 63 cub but I thought it warranted it's own post.

After reading about pistons, ridges in the cylinder, honing etc from here and other sources it sounds like a ridge reamer is what I need. Also in my reading I noticed that it was likely I should have needed the ridge reamer before I removed my pistons. I did not. All pistons popped out fairly easy and I see no marks on the pistons where they've been damaged upon removal.
What is most odd, at least to me is that the ridge which, catches pretty easily on my thumb nail, exists overwhelmingly on the starter side of all 4 cylinders. There is practically no ridge on the exhaust (or valve) side of the piston cylinders. Is that odd? What did that mean as far as trying to ream the cylinder?

I'm supposed to pick up the reamer on loan from an auto parts store tomorrow evening.
Thanks Paul

Hello. Quick question. Will a 2-11/16" ridge reamer work in a 1963 Farmall cub?". That seems to be a popular small size and I may now need to purchase one. Unfortunately, my loaner from auto zone is too big and I'll need to return.
I believe the specs for the cub bore is 2 and 5/8 (2.625) but not having familiarity with the process I didn't know if there was flex that would show me to use. Thanks Paul

 

[nashranch]

The one i bought thru Amazon (36500) does not go that small. I bought mine for a john deere 40 dozer engine i was working on. 2 11/16- 5 5/16

 

[caterpillar guy]

There should be some adjustment for size. The one I used 40 years ago had a bolt in the center to tighten that also served as an adjustment to some extent as well as I believe the piece that did the cutting was adjust able some also. Not in inches but in maybe a 1/4-1/2 inch total. I was reaming 4" or so holes in an old IH549 gas.

 

[Paul 300 U]

The one i bought thru Amazon (36500) does not go that small. I bought mine for a john deere 40 dozer engine i was working on. 2 11/16- 5 5/16

Thanks for the reply. I ended up buying a nos 2-4" ZIM on eBay. Price was very reasonable so that's good.

 

[Paul 300 U]

There should be some adjustment for size. The one I used 40 years ago had a bolt in the center to tighten that also served as an adjustment to some extent as well as I believe the piece that did the cutting was adjust able some also. Not in inches but in maybe a 1/4-1/2 inch total. I was reaming 4" or so holes in an old IH549 gas.

I guess these Cubs are relatively small bores so I just figured the Auto zone lever would fit. Fully retracted it looks to be about a quarter inch to big. I bought 2-4" on eBay. Should be here in a few days. Thanks for the reply!