Opinions on engine sleeves...

[RustyRatRod]

I'd like to get everybody's opinion on engine sleeves. I know what mine is. But what do yall think? And I mean replacement press in sleeves for a conventional engine like our MoPars, not an engine that was made with sleeves, like say a Cummins. So what say you? Are sleeves a good repair? Bad repair? Why?

 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Alcohol cars use them all the time.... as for street cars, lots of Caddy's.......... which are usually crap

 

[Moparsmitty]

I might use sleeves to save a numbers matching or very rare/expensive block. Otherwise probably not.

 

[D575]

I think it depends on the expertise of the machinist,

 

[Cranky]

Might sonic test the block before boring it for that....other than that, I'm not afraid of them.

 

[62MAX]

Like above,no problem if it's done right.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Where sleeves can possibly go wrong - to me anyway - would be the fit between the sleeve and the bore. It's possible you could have minimal contact between the sleeve and the bore from a number of factors and that might not be good for thermal conductivity. I'm not familiar with the machining or installation process but to me it seems important to have the sleeve be as much a part of the block as possible.

If a good outcome is hinging on a very sensitive installation process that only old Bob can do right because he's been doing it for 87 years I'd think twice about sleeving a block. There may be nothing to it but this is what comes to mind.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here's my 2 cents. Sleeves are a press fit......at least the type I'm talking about. A .002" press fit to be exact. When I did machine work, I would mic the sleeve top, bottom and middle and average it out, subtract .002" set the boring bar up for half that, bore, then re-measure for a last cut. Because usually it was such a big cut the bar didn't like it. ......and I installed a LOT of sleeves. And I have to say, I never one time.......not once ever bored through a cylinder.

My opinion is that it makes the block stronger as long as it's done correctly. You bore the cylinder to the appropriate size, leaving about 1/4" ridge of unbored cylinder at the bottom for a "shelf" to assure no matter what, the sleeve cannot fall. After the sleeve is pressed in, the top is cut off and then the block deck is skimmed to even the top of the sleeve out with the deck and then of course, finish bore and hone the sleeve.

I've seen people bore all eight out and sleeve the whole damn block and I'm talkin on a less than 2 second alcohol injected mud buggy. Then, I've seen people who would otherwise throw what could be a perfectly good block away because it needed a sleeve.

I've never had a problem with it. It wouldn't bother me in the least.

 

[Meep-Meep]

So how do you get the thing in? Press it in? Beat it in with a hammer and a block of wood? Do you put any slip-um on the outside?

I don't see how it can make a block stronger but I agree if it's done right it will be fine. It's the "getting it right" that concerns me.

 

[6speedGTX]

I worked as an automotive machinist for a little over 10 years. Installed countless sleeves in exactly the manner as Rusty has described. I never had an issue with a single one. Also never bored through a cylinder into water. I have heard a few horror stories about incorrect machining causing some issues with sleeves though...

 

[RustyRatRod]

You can install them either way. With a hammer and block of wood, or like we used to do with a press. And yes, we always used K&W block seal painted on good and thick on the outside of the sleeve. Although we weren't sealing anything, that's just how we did it. Always worked good.

 

[MoparBill]

I might use sleeves to save a numbers matching or very rare/expensive block. Otherwise probably not.

X2!

 

[RustyRatRod]

I might use sleeves to save a numbers matching or very rare/expensive block. Otherwise probably not.

I agree with that, BUT, IMHO ALL MoPar big blocks are rare since they ain't makin anymore and havent officially since 1979.

 

[MoparMitch]

We sleeved the number 6 hole in my numbers block , because it wouldn't clean up at .030. It had water sitting in the block for a while. Got around 300 miles on it now with no problems. It is important as Rusty says to keep a shelf in the bottom of the bore to prevent the sleeve from dropping.

 

[GrabberOrange69]

I might use sleeves to save a numbers matching or very rare/expensive block. Otherwise probably not.

+1

 

[440+6]

I don't have any experience with sleeves at all but it seems to me you would freeze the sleeve it and press it in, kinda like freezing a flywheel and heating the ring gear type thing.
Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Cranky]

I've done 100's of sleeves but never on something automotive. I was a machinist at an oil refinery that reclaimed pump bearing housings (if needed and many did) whenever we rebuilt a pump and they are done the same way. You leave a ledge at for the sleeve to bottom out on. Our 'rule of thumb fits' were .002" tight for most bores around 4" in diameter but larger bores required .003 tight and yes, all of that was cast iron. Only thing different between doing pumps and engines is that we had to make our own sleeves. Not hard to do but cast iron likes to sing when you are machining it down to around 1/8th inch wall thickness and you had to have a good lathe or know it well to get a good straight cut. Now this stuff didn't have to endure the combustion process but they had to be right or the pump wouldn't hold up and the bearings that were fitted into them would spin which would wreck the pump and a wrecked pump could easily cause a fire and that's the last thing you want to see happen in a refinery. A friend who has a shop has done a lot of sleeve work (he works on a lot of GM stuff after all ) and has never had any issues either.

 

[snakeoil24]

Car block sleeves are not any where close to diesel engine tapered sleeves. Putting in Diesel Sleeves are dry ice packed and allowed to expand in place. Newer sleevves twist in the block and get locked in place when the head is bolted on. But i actually think car block sleeves have to extend the life of a block and also make the cylinder more stable. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Pistol Pete]

Car block sleeves are not any where close to diesel engine tapered sleeves. Putting in Diesel Sleeves are dry ice packed and allowed to expand in place. Newer sleevves twist in the block and get locked in place when the head is bolted on. But i actually think car block sleeves have to extend the life of a block and also make the cylinder more stable. Correct me if I am wrong.

That would be my line of thinking as well. One of the 440 blocks I have in the shop right now has 3 sleeves in it and I nary give it a thought.

 

[19polara64]

I'd use 'em. I'm wondering if you can get sleeves made of better material like higher silicon content or stronger material.