Cylinder sleeves

[pbknowles]

I have decided to just go ahead and completely overhaul one of my engines instead of throwing one together "for now". To that end I have located an inexpansive ($44 each) source for cylinder sleeves. The bores are unfinished, eg. they must be installed and then bored and honed to size. The supplier states that these sleeves are for the industrial version of the SD, but as long as I am using the three ring pistons, I can't see what would be different about the industrial sleeves. They should be just gray iron, yes? I suppose they could have different alloy constituents (nickel perhaps?) Now I have scared myself off....any thoughts?
PK

[philip]

That would be a question best fielded by "Galen". I do know press-fit sleeves (0.0005-0.0012" interference fit) are called out in the FSM. This kind of sleeve should be rigid honed to size once installed. But the FSM omits to say if new Nissan sleeves need to be honed to size (as is the normal practice with press-fits).

There are also aftermarket "slip-fits" which have an OD that is 0.0002 smaller than the block bore with the inside surface finished. This is the kind of sleeve Galen is trying out now. Were I able to host a .WMV video file, I could show you this "slip-fit" sleeve being installed.

Personally, I'm old fashioned. Press fit, then finish to size with a rigid hone machine. This way you get a true cylinder as installed.

Regarding the sleeve alloy, I do not know if Nissan sleeve alloy differs from aftermarket sleeves or if road vehicle sleeve alloy differs from industrial/marine sleeves.

Cyl sleeve puller

[Knucklehead]

I don't know that I am that much better qualified to address your concerns, other than actually rebuilding my SD22 three times in the 15 years that it has been in my care. I do not have experience with any SD other than mine, but that is fairly profound. So I know a lot about a little.

There are two problems in the question at hand. One, are there differences between sleeve applications, and two, can salespeople, parts men, and stock boys be expected to reliably know specific engineering notes about thousands of parts on indeterminate numbers of engines?

Regarding the second, my repeated experience is that rarely do they have any more experience with the specific part than where its number might be found in a catalog or on a shelf. Unfortunately, they won't let you know they aren't engineers, mechanics, or that they don't know how to use a screwdriver, assuming they realize it themselves. A good parts man is like gold, and if you can find him, you hang on to him. In summary, I trust very little of what I'm told and only some of what I read.

Which complicates dealing with first problem. But to make things short, if by "industrial version" your supplier means "not original equipment in a 720", I doubt it has anything to do with metalurgy. Even if it did, I think chrome rings in a chrome bore is the only thing you'd have to worry about.

Probably the only concern will be dimensional. As Phil mentioned, I was quite surprised when I had the block in the press and started to put in the first liner, just to have it slide in all the way. Had to do some investigative work on that. And no mention of it in the box.

You should pull one of yours out, mike it every which way, and compare; over the phone if your supplier is willing.

You should be very critical of every part you get. Probably 50% of all the parts I have ever gotten I had to return (or should have).

Keep in touch with this project.

Photo:Extracting an OEM sleeve

[asavage]

Also, read up on this thread; oversized piston sets are available.