LT80 cylinder boring

[Aenima]

Hi, my kids' 92 lt80 needs rebuilt. My local Suzy shop says they'll rebore for $100 no mention of nickel plating. Took cylinder staight to Kawy shop, they said it needs bored and nickel plated......$200! In short does the cylinder NEED plated after bore....I can get a freaking new cylinder for $130!! Im new to this any info/guidance would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance!

Aenima

[WestTexasKing]

It doesn't NEED to be nikasil plated unless it's past the last bore.
You can usually build up the nikasil to restore a few bores diameters back into the cylinder.
If it's on the last bore your options are nikasil/chome, or buy another cylinder that may or may not need a bore job too.
But if you do get it nikasil plated, chances are the cylinder bore will outlast the bike itself.
Those who spend a ton of money on cylinder port work want to keep that port work on their cylinder, and with standard boring you'll run out of bores and need a new sleeve.
So then you have to send it back and get the ports done again, where a nikasil cylinder just requires a new piston/rings/crosshatch and lasts indefinitely not withstanding catastrophic failure.

[grkguy]

aenima where you from

[WestTexasKing]

Oh great, more steeler fans getting together!

[Aenima]

Thanks for the info! This is he first time it will be bored. So, I could go pay 65 for a bore and that's it? I'm on a very limited budget so I like the way that sounds.

I was made in Johnstown, PA. Born and raised a Pittsburgh sports fan! I've been living just south of St. Louis for quite some time though...Most of my family us still in PA

where you from grkguy?

[WestTexasKing]

It depends. If the walls of the cylinder aren't extremely gouged by a broken ring, it should just need the next size up bore. It's possible you may have to skip a bore if it's badly worn or oval. But generally, just one bore up should be plenty. A new top end kit will be required as well (piston, rings, bearings, gaskets), they cost around $100 for a 250 but off the top of my head I don't know about the LT80. So whatever it costs to bore plus the top overhaul kit is what you're looking at. You can have them do all the work, or you can measure the cylinder and find out what piston size you need to buy, and then have them bore the cylinder to the piston. It's not the other way around, don't bore the cylinder and find a piston to match it.

Anyone who says you need to nikasil the bore or it's worthless (as opposed to a suggestion) is just full of it, and you can tell them where to stick it.

[chrisg]

hey tex, aren't there some cylinders out there that require that nikasil process everytime? Maybe the kawasaki 2 stroke? I don't know, just asking

[WestTexasKing]

Some of the newer engines in sports cars don't even have a steel sleeve, it's just a nikasil plated bore in the aluminum block. I would say that if you broke a ring and gouged the walls up in a setup like that you'd have to get the process done again...but I have no experience with kawasakis since they're ugly and green lol

Now, with just normal wear and tear on a nikasil cylinder it should last pretty much forever. Nikasil is almost as hard as diamonds, so there's not much out there that could wear it down, much less warrant a new coating every time you need a fresh top overhaul.

Most of the cylinders on my ag-cat were channel chromed back in 1962, and haven't had a thing done to them other than a honing every 1,000-1,500 or so. We get top overhauls done on our radial engines for about $300 a cylinder, so whenever the compression starts dropping we send it out to some guys who clean up the valve guides and seats, hone the cylinder, and drop in some new rings. The average cylinder gets about 500hrs a year put on it, so do the math...that's 23,500hrs on a single chrome job and counting. They don't even stock oversize pistons for radials anymore for that reason. So that's how good chrome holds up to wear, and nikasil is miles ahead of chrome. Does that answer your question?

[LT80]

No Nikasil. Pretty much not heard of for mini's.
Costs should be around::
bore:40
piston kit (piston and rings):55
gaskets,pin,cir-clips,and bearing:20

Tell your Kawi shop to come in..We'll help em get a clue! HAHAHA

GO STEELERS!

[Aenima]

Is there an easy way to get the piston/rings into the cylinder? I tried with piston installed on rod. Going to take it back off and try with cylinder on the bench. It looks to be the cylinder was made for the piston to be installed from the bottom???

Thnx again!!