[Jay S]

Are things done different in other parts of the country? Every machine shop I have ever been to checks the line bore before they just blindly machine it. I don’t recall even if anyone has even charged to check it. If it is within tolerance, they don’t line hone it. If it doesn’t check out, they line hone. If it is all kinds of terrible, it gets line bored. They check the line bore when it arrives, then again after they work on it. I have heard of at least one block that went though a local shop that sat outside for 40 years and after the line honed, it was checked, the bulk heads were so bad it would pull and mess up the line bore and gave a different reading every time it was tq down. The shop eventually gave up, said they could get it good enough to drive up on the car trailer for a car show. But that would be about as much they suggested it would take. Lol That block is now a display engine at a local body shop.

I can’t think of a time when I have had a machinist want to sonic check a block for .030” over. I think it is cool to have it done, when it is available, but I would not loose sleep over it if it is not available. I have only had 1 block that was checked in the hundreds of engine we have done. It just isn’t something checked by most smaller shops. Most of the shops around here don’t mess with sonic checking, it ends up at another shop, usually a bigger shop that is more $$$$. Most smaller shops specialize in what they can, and farm out what they don’t want to tackle. Man power is getting to be a big issue, hard to get good help, and poor help seems to be worse than no help.