Russell King
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
The liners are meant to be replaced when they need to be replaced. If they are dam or oversized due to wear they must be replaced. There are oversized pistons and rings made for when the liners are worn or slightly damaged but they only go so much oversized.
You can probably get the liners out and back in but they then have to be bored to the correct inner diameter for the smallest piston and ring set that you purchase. The liners are probably some type of solid steel tube (thicker wall than you get) and the outside diameter is turned to a certain diameter with some tolerance so it fits into the bore of the block. Then the inner diameter is probably bored out some to end up close to the final bore but too small for the piston to fit properly. When this is in the machining process it is probably supported by the machine tooling so it stays round. But as soon as it is taken out of the machine the residual stresses in the material will deform the thin walled cylinder into some shape that is not perfectly round. When the block was machined the bore where these liners is bored round with a tight tolerance and will force the thin walled cylinders back into shape as they are installed. There will be significant friction force on the outer diameter so it will not move. The rings on the piston will not have as much friction force on the inner diameter to move the liner. If a ring does break and gouges into the liner it could potentially cause the liner to move but that is probably not likely due to the way the block is bored and the head but not impossible. I think the liners could be slightly longer than the bore in the block when manufactured. So during the process the liners must be bored to the proper inner diameter and also the top of the block will be milled flat so the liners don’t project above the surface of the block.
In short the liners MUST be machined to size after they are installed into the block.
I think the machine shop would want to do the removal and installation of the sleeves in their shop so they can control that process to be safe for the future machining process. They might not provide any warranty or guarantee if they were installed before the block was delivered to them. Plus they probably do something similar all the time so have some experience with the process.
I don’t know where on the earth you reside (since you are reluctant to place yourself on a particular continent) but you should consider what the machine shop wants before you start making decisions on the liner removal. Call a few and ask because different places on earth probably have different processes and procedures for the same end results.
You can probably get the liners out and back in but they then have to be bored to the correct inner diameter for the smallest piston and ring set that you purchase. The liners are probably some type of solid steel tube (thicker wall than you get) and the outside diameter is turned to a certain diameter with some tolerance so it fits into the bore of the block. Then the inner diameter is probably bored out some to end up close to the final bore but too small for the piston to fit properly. When this is in the machining process it is probably supported by the machine tooling so it stays round. But as soon as it is taken out of the machine the residual stresses in the material will deform the thin walled cylinder into some shape that is not perfectly round. When the block was machined the bore where these liners is bored round with a tight tolerance and will force the thin walled cylinders back into shape as they are installed. There will be significant friction force on the outer diameter so it will not move. The rings on the piston will not have as much friction force on the inner diameter to move the liner. If a ring does break and gouges into the liner it could potentially cause the liner to move but that is probably not likely due to the way the block is bored and the head but not impossible. I think the liners could be slightly longer than the bore in the block when manufactured. So during the process the liners must be bored to the proper inner diameter and also the top of the block will be milled flat so the liners don’t project above the surface of the block.
In short the liners MUST be machined to size after they are installed into the block.
I think the machine shop would want to do the removal and installation of the sleeves in their shop so they can control that process to be safe for the future machining process. They might not provide any warranty or guarantee if they were installed before the block was delivered to them. Plus they probably do something similar all the time so have some experience with the process.
I don’t know where on the earth you reside (since you are reluctant to place yourself on a particular continent) but you should consider what the machine shop wants before you start making decisions on the liner removal. Call a few and ask because different places on earth probably have different processes and procedures for the same end results.