The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 cylinder sleeve

Hello Stovebolters> I got engine back from machine shop to my rebuilder and the head wouldnt seal despite running like a kitten, after 6 different head gaskets and alot of measuring of head bolts and threaded holes it went back to the machine shop for evaluation. They tore it down and found a hole the size of a dime in one cylinder wall. They are going to sleeve that hole on warranty. I would just look for another block if the engine # did not match the truck plate so. . . onward and upward - this delay sucks. My winter schedule is completely pooched. Have to go back to bodywork I guess.

Nothing wrong with the sleeve in the engine if it's done right.

I had a 283 I had to sleeve one cylinder due to a spot had rusted out and when the engine started it would blow water out the radiator.

Running like a top.

I've had several engines over the years have a sleeve installed and never had any issues.

I have sleeved all the cylinders in some engines to salvage a block that had a lot of race prep work done, or to preserve an original casting number or manufacture date. Usually, the quality of metal in the sleeve is better than the original block alloy. As long as a sleeve is installed correctly there's no problem at all with doing it. Be sure they use a sleeve with a 1/8" wall thickness, as the area behind the hole will provide no support. If I'm sleeving to correct a worn or scored cylinder without any cracks or fractures, a 3/32" wall is plenty.
Jerry

Jerry;

How do you "correctly install" a cylinder sleeve? I've always wondered how one got put in and why it wouldn't move around. Curious minds want to know!

they are dimensioned for an interference fit. To install you freeze the sleeves & heat the block, then press in.. it ain't moving or coming out

1951 3100

I'm with Jerry on this one. We ran small blocks on the round tracks, some had 2 sleeves, some had more.

The 216 that came out of my 51, now has all six done. Bore was to far gone to go that far over-size on pistons, so we sleeved, and now we're back to standard. Cost was somewhere around $22 a sleeve. My machine shop guy says now, we can reuse the original cast iron pistons that came out of it.

Jerry can probably explain it better, but, in simple terms, you do not bore the cylinder all the way through. You only bore it the height/length of the sleeve, which leaves a ledge at the bottom of the cylinder bore, that the sleeve sits on. Once the head is installed, sleeve cannot possibly come out. There are, of course, very very close tolerances you have to adhere to. There's a little more to it than just dropping the sleeve in the bore. And Jerry may expand on this, but there are different designed sleeves, if I'm not mistaken. Seems like I remember some used to have a lip around the top edge.

But I have no problem using sleeves. Have all the confidence with doing mine this way.

Mike

Kades nailed it- - - - -leave a step at the bottom of the bore by stopping the cut about 1/8" before it goes out the bottom, then bore the hole about .002" smaller than the average outside diameter of the sleeve. The cylinder head holds the sleeve down from the top, so it can't move. I don't bother with heating or cooling, just drive the sleeve into the block with a heavy steel plate on top of it and use a BFH to tap it into place. I believe the shock of driving a sleeve in helps it to self-align with the hole as it goes in. Using a press can crack a block if the sleeve gets into a bind. I cut the sleeve a few thousandths taller than the bored hole, then either draw-file it flush with the top of the block or use a square tool bit on the boring bar to cut it flush. I make a mark with soapstone around the top of the block and stop cutting just as the tool begins to scrape the mark away. Finish with a draw-file. This prevents undercutting the top of the block which can cause a head gasket leak. The ID of the sleeve is smaller than a standard bore, so it can be bored and honed to the exact size to fit the pistons. I stop boring .002" below the desired diameter, and finish the sizing process with a rigid hone to eliminate tooling marks. The final few passes with the hone are done with a rapid up/down motion to create a 60 degree cross-hatch pattern for ring seating.

No, it's definitely not just a matter of boring a hole and dropping a sleeve into it. When the sleeve is installed the right way, the material is better than the original block alloy, and combustion heat transfers to the coolant exactly like a cylinder without a sleeve.

Sleeves for Cummins and Detroit Diesel engines are a close slip fit in the block and have a flange at the top so the cylinder head sandwiches the sleeve between the head and the block counterbore. Cummins uses shims to set the cylinder liner a couple of thousandths above the top of the block for proper gasket sealing. Those sleeves get changed during an overhaul, along with new pistons, so the bore is always standard- - -no such thing as an oversize piston, and no wear to the block. The Chevy Vega with the aluminum block and the cast iron plated pistons was routinely retrofitted with a flanged sleeve and normal aluminum pistons, and cutting the counterbore into the top of the block was a very tricky process. Fun stuff!
Jerry

Gunner,

Here's an article on cylinder sleeves in a trade publication:

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2013/06/sleeves-liners/

I found it an interesting read. The method of actually getting the sleeve into the block is described. From what I've seen of the skill level or some engine "machinists" this isn't something I'd trust to just anyone.

Only once have I had a car engine block sleeved and it was done so skillfully that you'd never know there even was a sleeve installed.

Old school motorcycle engines also have sleeves. I once changed 2-stroke sleeve at home using my wife's oven to get different ports and different power delivery. That is much more difficult than installing a car engine sleeve. It's done by heating the jug and freezing the sleeve and there are literally only about 2 seconds available to correctly align the jug and sleeve ports before the temperatures equalize and the sleeve won't move.

https://drmarkdma.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/goodgrief.gif

What? I don't get it.

Ray

Alberta is littered with 1955-1962 base model 6 cylinder Pontiac cars where the block is identical to the 235. IMO replacement with one of these donors (low mileage/rebuilt best) that is nearly the equivalent to the triple carb, dual exhaust, Corvette 235 for power is far more valuable than "numbers matching".

As for sleeving it's a routine thing for me and one is best advised to warm one component and cool the other for best results.

I agree, building a "numbers matching" for the next owner is wasting money & time.

Compare the cost of sleeving your engine to the cost of buying and fixing up a non-original engine.

If the total costs are similar, fix your original engine.

If you want the additional power in the newer 235s, get a later higher-lift camshaft and later high-compression head (1956 or later - maybe change the valves, too) - most of the external "numbers" will still match.