I have seen this term used a few times as a method of insuring good sealing for a MHG. Can anyone point me in the direction of how to do it, and the costs involved?
Lapping the block?
- Thread starter Turbo Targa
- Start date
Well first you find a willing cat and then some milk... :biglaugh: seriously though its the process of removing high spots on a flat surface by moving another sacrifical flat plate across a surface with an abrasive medium between them. This site has a good description http://www.surfacefinishes.com/lapping.html There are also several different methods to do this like using this http://www.lapmaster.com/lapping_polishing_plates.htm but I would reccomed calling around too machine shops in your area there is bound to be on locally that has the capability to do this. G-luck
Any shop with a surface grinder that can handle the deck height of our block can do this, if you pull the engine and completely disassemble the block.
LOL if you had access to a Lapping table I think you could get a great finish that was flat but with a hand held it's never going to be flat!
Good sharp tooling with LOTS of clean coolant will give an almost mirror finish, this doesn't happen at most shops though!
Good sharp tooling with LOTS of clean coolant will give an almost mirror finish, this doesn't happen at most shops though!
Surface grinder is perfectly capable of giving you a dead flat surface with a mirror finish. Best of both worlds.
A surface grinder is a bloody big machine that machine shops use to grind large hunks of metal until the top and the bottom are perfectly parallel. I'm not aware of how they work, just what they are capable of doing.
From what I understand, it's not a terribly uncommon piece of machinery.
From what I understand, it's not a terribly uncommon piece of machinery.
Grim hit it on the head!
If you can find a shop with a large enough unit to do a 7M block in a single pass this would give a perfect result (again as long as the operator knows his stuff and has the machine set up correctly with good well dressed stones and clean coolant)
Next best and more common is as I posted earlier a good Mill with sharp tooling/clean coolant!
I keep going on about the sharp/clean thing but it's really important to getting a good surface finish as the slightest deviation will give a visable mark on the surface (you'd be surprised how small a mark needs to be to be seen by the naked eye)
If you can find a shop with a large enough unit to do a 7M block in a single pass this would give a perfect result (again as long as the operator knows his stuff and has the machine set up correctly with good well dressed stones and clean coolant)
Next best and more common is as I posted earlier a good Mill with sharp tooling/clean coolant!
I keep going on about the sharp/clean thing but it's really important to getting a good surface finish as the slightest deviation will give a visable mark on the surface (you'd be surprised how small a mark needs to be to be seen by the naked eye)
The only problem with this entire idea is taking the motor out now. With my plans on using a non-MHG and keeping the motor near stock for a while I guess this process wont be needed now. Interesting discussion however.