Chromed Cylinders

[RVadmirer]

Questions:
1. Can chromed cylinders be re-honed if glazed in break in?
2. Can cylinders be glazed later in life?
3. Do the answers depend on rather the "chrome" is the discontinued Cermichrome or the type of cylinder chroming still being done?
Thank you.

[aerhed]

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes, don't hone cermichrome type jugs.

[Brantel]

How do you tell the difference????

[aerhed]

Cermichrome has a uniform frosty appearance, like a matte finish. Channel chrome has a randomly crazed finish & is shiny between cracks. It's the crazing that retains oil for cyl wall/ring lubrication. I'm not a cermi/silica fan. I've seen where the rings went through an area of the plating & when it does it starts to chew the wall up bad. Channel chrome is actually beyond bulletproof. Trouble is, you "almost always" get higher oil consumption (yucky belly) with channel chrome than with plain or nitrided barrels. You won't find a lot of chrome engines that go over 20 hrs per quart of oil, whereas a nicely fitted steel lyc will go easy 25 hrs on the first quart.

[9GT]

Originally Posted by aerhed

Cermichrome has a uniform frosty appearance, like a matte finish. Channel chrome has a randomly crazed finish & is shiny between cracks. It's the crazing that retains oil for cyl wall/ring lubrication. I'm not a cermi/silica fan. I've seen where the rings went through an area of the plating & when it does it starts to chew the wall up bad. Channel chrome is actually beyond bulletproof. Trouble is, you "almost always" get higher oil consumption (yucky belly) with channel chrome than with plain or nitrided barrels. You won't find a lot of chrome engines that go over 20 hrs per quart of oil, whereas a nicely fitted steel lyc will go easy 25 hrs on the first quart.

Thanks for this info. This weekend I had the plugs out of my recently overhauled Lyc and peered in with a light and thought it looked a little odd (to say the least) seeing the crazing inside my newly chromed cylinders. My first 20 hours used almost a quart of oil.

[mahlon_r]

Questions and answers:
1. Can chromed cylinders be re-honed if glazed in break in? Yes.
2. Can cylinders be glazed later in life? Not normally, glazing is normally a product of the rings not seating.
3. Do the answers depend on rather the "chrome" is the discontinued Cermichrome or the type of cylinder chroming still being done? When cermichrome was in production, ECI had a service letter on honing it. That Service document was removed when they recommended replacing that coating when a cylinder with it was serviced.
Reference material:
http://www.eci.aero/pdf/92-9-6.pdf
Good Luck,
Mahlon
"The opinions and information provided in this and all of my posts are hopefully
helpful to you. Please use the information provided responsibly and at your own
risk."

[RVadmirer]

Thanks Mahlon, for the explanations that make for a better understanding of a couple issues we have in our group.
Always appreciate your input.