[b-man]

"hasn't scratched yet"

http://www.bonami.com/products/

[65Mark]

Another use for Bon-Ami is polishing an old oxidized paint job if you don't want to buff it. Just wash the car with it and scrub the oxidation away.

[Mr. P-Body]

I've advised this in the past, only to be ridculed for it... HHMMMM........ While working at a Pontiac/Buick/Caddy dealer in 1981, we were advised to do this on "problem children"... I wouldn't lie to you guys...

Jim

[pro-tour79]

as mentionedabove this trick was made famous by Chevy in 1955 to fix a bad sealing issue

[george kujanski]

What happens to the bearings in the process?

George

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

What happens to the bearings in the process?

George

Nothing. this stuff is so fine that any that would get into the oil(which you change anyway) will not harm the bearings. Unless you dump a bunch of it in the oil.

[swheaton]

Hi guys,i am a fellow muscle car fanatic of 40 + yrs now from Team Chevelle & am new to your forum but am not the enemy so please dont shoot me. (LOL!!!!)

I like Pontiacs too,my father sold new Pontiacs from 1958-62 before he went out on his own to sell cars till 1984 when he had enough and thru in the towel so Pontiacs are in the blood.

I just finished totally rebuilding a set of tripower carbs off my friends #'s matching 66 GTO 4spd,its a buitifull car for sure.

Anyway i ran into this BonAmi thing here in your forum and wanted to pass along some 1st hand info a few my fellow t/cer's had to say on the subject in case it would be of some use to you. Between the info here in your forum and from t/chevelle it sure lookes like this BonAmi thing can really correct a ring seal issue in some cases with a new/freshly rblt motor.

Have a good one....Scott
================================================== ===========

This statement below is from a very well respected hi perf engine builder in the buisness for a very long time with a great reputation:

I have seen the old BonAmi trick work ,many years ago it was used to seat Chrome rings which could be a real bitch to get to seat at times or so it seemed.
The way it was done was either to sprinkle a small amount into the air stream at high idle like 2500 to 3500.

Or you could mix the BonAmi in some water in an old coke bottle like a teaspoon to a half bottle of water. Same deal, hold the engine to 2500-3500 & pour the water into the carb slowly so as not to drop the RPM much.
The water will also clean the crap out of the cylinders just like some of the commercial stuff sold,ever notice how clean a cylinder with a blown head gasket ends up?

That said the best thing is to pull the engine apart & ball hone the cylinders but the BonAmi or equivalent is worth a try first,hopefully they didnt use low tension rings or something.
================================================== ===========
Re: Bon Ami for you old '55 Chevy's - A comment from Chevrolet to SAE

--- In [email protected], hobot <hobot@...> wrote:
>
And word soon got out that, yes, early Chevrolet V-8s did have one
> big bug: their rings were slow to seat, so the engines tended to
burn oil. Mechanics soon learned to pour a little Bon Ami in water
down the carburetor, which speeded break-in and ultimately solved the
> oil-consumption problem.>
================================================== =========
I have personally never done it. But I know it was used back when very hard chrome rings were popular and propane only engines were built. It was dang tough sometimes to get the rings on these to seat. And I have an old IMPCO technical manual that shows feeding an engine the Bonami to "help" the rings.
I've built some dual fuel engines for pickups around here back in the early eighties, we were always careful to get a few thousand miles on gasoline before running the propane extensively.
================================================== ======
There are two kinds of Bon Ami. "Cleanser" in the gold foil container and "Cleaning Powder" in the yellow container. Not the same stuff. I've used the cleaning powder on my windshields before giving them the Rain-X treatment. Doesn't scratch glass. Never tried on chrome, but I'd guess its OK.

The "Cleanser" is more agressive. I definitely would not use it on glass or chrome.

I heard the "Bon Ami to seat rings" story in high school auto shop back in 1961. Never took it seriously.
================================================== ===========
My first garage job (in the late 60's) was rebuilding construction equipment. We used bonami to get the rings to seal and get the equipment back into service to make $ for the owners. Not something I'd do today
================================================== ========

[Region Warrior]

Originally Posted by Irish68Firebird

I really wanted to use your method as I thought it would work better but because of clearance issues I couldn't get to some of the spark plug holes very well. I think direct into the hole is a better method though. When you do it through the carb small amounts get stuck on the boosters, etc. I used carb cleaner to wash it down and get any remaining amounts into the engine.

Syringe.
I get'm from our Vet.
He always gives us more then we need for cat med's.

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by Irish68Firebird

Again, I thought this seemed like rings haven't seated, but everything else seemed o.k. Plus, all I ever hear anyone say is that moly rings SEAT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. As you will see this is not true, at least on my motor.

Actually, by your compression test results, your top Moly compression ring DID seat! It was the oil rings that didn't. Moly rings do seat easier and faster than cast or chrome. You just need to have all the rings seat. In a set of Moly rings, usually only the top ring is Moly. If you purchased a set of double Moly rings[hard to find anymore] then both top rings are Moly. The oil rings have a chrome face. That's why I don't really care for low tension oil rings. They need tension to seal right. They aren't like compression rings where the combustion pressure forces the rings against the cylinder wall.

Have seen Bon-Ami work many times in the past. Like mentioned earlier, the 55 Chevy owners manual even suggests this for oil burning issues.

[Tim Corcoran]

Thank you for sharing your story and including a very detailed summary. This is really great info and I am sure this will help others too. Your method of ingestion of the Bon Ami must be a sound method as each cylinder compression went up in almost identical amounts. Thanks again for sharing this with the board.

Tim C

[taalltheway]

DAMN, i have EXACTLY the same problem with my freshly built SD455...runs fine but burns oil......i also bought the parts from Butler....i have only one problem: I can´t buy BonAmi here in Germany...........wich of the two types of BonAMI do i need????

[roadrage david]

Drive to me in Holland and il give you some .i got one canister of the stuff.

[taalltheway]

@roadrage david: I thought you first wrote you didn´t know what it was and now you have a canister? Never mind....i will first try a different oil and some hard driving. If this does not work my last chance would be BonAMI...it is not very far from me to Holland...Where exactly are you located in the Netherlands?

Regards
Thomas

[Cliff R]

I tried the aluminum oxide into the carburetor trick quite a few years ago on a Mazda 4 cylinder engine in a B2000 pick-up truck I had bought for my son. We overhauled the engine and new rings were installed, but it never did seal up, and was blowing a little ibt of blue smoke and using a quart of oil every 100-150 miles.

We ran the engine at a steady 2000rpm's, and put about a teaspon full into the carburetor. The engine immediately starting blowing TONS of blue smoke out the exhaust, and even slowed slightly in engine rpms.

Exactly the opposite of the test results seen here, so this method to get rings to "seat" isn't alway successful.

I ended up pulling the Mazda engine apart, and ringing it again with a different brand of rings. It sealed right up and ran flawlessly afterwards....FWIW.....Cliff

[roadrage david]

Originally Posted by taalltheway

@roadrage david: I thought you first wrote you didn´t know what it was and now you have a canister? Never mind....i will first try a different oil and some hard driving. If this does not work my last chance would be BonAMI...it is not very far from me to Holland...Where exactly are you located in the Netherlands?

Regards
Thomas

Thomas Lets say i learn fast hahhaaha. just got the stuff in. i live in Rotterdam!! witchs is near the coast.

[taalltheway]

@roadrage david: Good to know that you have the stuff. Rotterdam is about 300 KM from where i live....If the problem can´t be solved with the different oil i will come over and we can have a nice chat about Pontiacs....i guess you have some nice cars yourself that would be worth looking at...i have a 74 SD455 and a mildly built 77 Grand Prix...

[roadrage david]

thats no prob.my 68 firebird will be shown at the 100% tuning event(indoors) in rotterdam the 11 and 12th october 200 cars from the usa japan uk germany frensh ecetera will be displayd. but 90% of these cars are those to fast and to furies rice burner crackerjack toys!!!!. its good to show them the ""real deal"". ps got a 69 GTO as wel but its apart (necst project)...

[Kenth]

FWIW,

http://www.hastingsmfg.com/ServiceTi...il_economy.htm

http://www.hastingsmfg.com/ServiceTi...check_list.htm

[swheaton]

Hi Kenth,i have seen that from Hastings before but you also cant deny reults either.

I contacted (Mike) the person with the pontiac 468 that posted here about the BonAmi owrking in his case to see if there were any ill affects from the bonami treatment as timing/miles went on and if the oil much improved oil use was still the case and here is what Mike told me.

If anyone does try this Bonami treatment i would also rec using an oil filter bypass block along with an oil filter that like for ex the K&N that filters much smaller particles to ensure less contam from the Bonami gets in the oiling system when doing the treatment.

Then change the oil right after the BonAmi treatment and go out run the car/motor hard with a few hard accelorations with backing off the gas and letting the motor come down in rpm comming from hi rpm in like 2nd or 3rd gear to load the motor in the opposite way too. That's so its loaded on accell and decell so the pistons / rings see that action in both directions to aid in ring seating on the newly roughed up surface form the BonAmi treatment.

Remember his motor was using 1qt oil per 400 miles before the Bonami treatment no look where it's at and how many miles he has put on the motor since the Bonami treatment,these results are impressive.

Scott
================================================== =====

SCOTT,I have put about 6k miles on the motor since the treatment on this trip and no ill effects. Oil consumption is still very low at about 1 qt every 1500-2000 miles.


The bon ami I used was in a gold container and was the polishing powder. It is finer and probably better suited to the job.

I used about half a teaspoon and added it alternatively to each primary carb barrel a pinch at a time until gone. Kept the engine about 2k during the application. If I did it again I would take an eye dropper and draw a small amount into the dropper and puff it into each spark plug hole directly. I think this would give a more uniform application. Doing it through the carb left amounts in and around the booster venturies, etc. which I then had to spray off with carb cleaner to get it into the engine. Also the fan blowing air over the engine complicated things also. So I would put it directly in each whole if you can.

[Irish68Firebird]

I am glad some of you found my experience useful. I have actually been on a 8,000 mile cross country trip in my 68 bird convertible (the vehicle in this post) which has kept me out of the forum loop (was gone almost 3 weeks). I live in Florida and traveled to Eastern Oregon (where I am from) and back. I have this book titled 120 scenic drives in america which I use as a guide on each trip. Each year I knock off a few more of the scenic drives in the book and take a different route. I try very hard not to drive the interstates which are boring, noisy with all the trucks, and have lots of traffic. It is really an awesome experience and I encourage you all to do something similar in your Pontiac! When you take the back roads both the scenery and people are great. You see what America is really like and realize what an incredibly beautiful country we live in. Some high points of this year were yellowstone, the grand tetons, glacier national park. Spent about 80% of the trip with the top down. Perfect weather and overall a great trip.

The bird ran great with no apparent ill effects from the bon ami. Also spanked two new corvettes and a new mustang en route. I still have the 350 emblems on the hood to further demoralize the ego of the victims. LOL.

Anyway, alot of good observations and comments from other forum members. Thanks.

Mike