understanding cylinders chrome?

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XamV045
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:28 pm

understanding cylinders chrome?

Post by XamV045 »

How are the 85 max cylinders factory finished?

can they be honed?

new to me dead 85 on it's way back to life I hope.
92 Vmax-4, 91 Phaser ST, 85 Vmax 540J, 80-81 SRV’s, 79 Exciters
rminier
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:32 am

Re: understanding cylinders chrome?

Post by rminier »

They have a thin chrome plating on the cylinder walls....very common with many brands.
They can be "lightly" honed to reduce tiny scratches.
Any scratches that will catch a fingernail probably should be re-chromed.
Sometime in the early 90's, most of the manufacturers switched to Nikasil plating.
It is virtually identical to the earlier pure chrome plating, but the addition of small amounts of Nickel and Silicon to the chrome "mix" resulted in a slightly better surface that retained the oil film slightly better.
Most places that re-chrome cylinders will actually re-Nikasil them for the same price...so a person may as well take advantage of the slightly better Nikasil. You can't tell any difference between chrome and Nikasil when you look at them, and they use the same piston rings.
Some people elect to have a cast iron sleeve installed in a bad cylinder. That is not cheap to do, either. And you have to remember that the original pistons have cast iron rings to properly seat against the chrome bore.
if you install a cast iron sleeve, you have to switch to chrome rings to work correctly.
Last edited by rminier on Thu Feb 02, 2017 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
75 Sno Jet Astro SS, 79 Kawasaki Invader 440, 82 Blizzard 9500, 83 Yamaha Vmax, 97 Ski Doo MXZ 670.
XamV045
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:28 pm

Re: understanding cylinders chrome?

Post by XamV045 »

thank you- that explains the replating links.
one cyl is may be the other ugh -I have not started deep cleaning yet just came apart in shop this weekend.
that would bring me to
Hey any "good cylinders" out their?
92 Vmax-4, 91 Phaser ST, 85 Vmax 540J, 80-81 SRV’s, 79 Exciters
collinz
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:27 am

Re: understanding cylinders chrome?

Post by collinz »

Try alssnowmobile. They have used and remanufactured cylinders.
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