My first engine reamer ( I think)

[Nolatoolguy]

So I got this yesterday. I am pretty sure it's a engine reamer. Any info on it is appreciated?

[Nolatoolguy]

[Nolatoolguy]

[oldgoaly]

A cylinder wear ridge reamer, that is what I know them as.

[mikeswrenches]

Indispensable when rebuilding older engines, just make sure to use it BEFORE you try to remove the pistons.

Mike

[turnnut]

yes, ridge reamer used to remove the ridge at the top of the cylinder wall, as mikeswrenches stated, that would be your 1st step
after removing the head.

on the top of yours is Hastings mfg. co.    Hastings was a very big mfg. of piston rings.

[Papaw]

This reminded me of an advertising yardstick I have had hanging on the wall for years.
" For Best Performance Use Hastings Steel-Vent Piston Rings In Re-Rings- Re-Sleeves- Re-Bores"

[turnnut]

Papaw,  I have one like that in the garage, but not for Hastings, if it warms up outside, I will check what's on It.

will also count the holes, I see yours has 16 for a 8 cylinder auto.

for those that never used one of these, they were used when you were removing the valves from the engine,
you would put them in order.  then when you were inspecting them, you could tell how bad or good each cylinder
was performing by the condition of the valves. 

[gibsontool]

Good info, I know I have one of those yardsticks with the holes in it but it never dawned on me what the holes were for. I'm on the road for another week or so but I'll be digging out when I get home to see whose name is on it. I could be wrong but I don't think it's Hastings.

[Papaw]

Mine has advertising for Motor Machine and Supply Co. Houston, Texas  Phone PR7126  1310-12 Polk St. I looked up the location long ago and it looked like the  original buildings are still there as part of others. The phone number dates it in the 40s.

[Nolatoolguy]

Thanks for info guys. It's always great to learn something new about a tool. Especially when I don't know exactly how it's used, better yet it's proper name.

[turnnut]

 the temperature got up to 36 degrees, so I ventured into the shed,  mine has 16 holes, just like Papaw's and like his, each
hole has the numbers along side of them. 1-16  that way, if you put the stick aside with the valves in them, all you would
have to do is look for the number to remember where each came from.

info on mine;

(side 1) Ramco Modern Power               Piston Rings for every engine

(side2)  Snyder County Automotive      phone; DR 4-2077    834 n. Market Street     Selinsgrove, PA

[Aunt Phil]

I can guarantee you a young fellow can come very close to getting killed for removing the valves from one of those yardsticks so he can use it to measure something.
If he don't get killed he can learn one hell of a lot from the experience.

[moparthug]

For use with your reamer, because you need to put it all back together eventually.

[JohnD]

Ridge reamers served a purpose when re-ring jobs, often done at the corner garage with the engine block still in the car, were common. As car designs progressed it became impossible to do block work in the car and the engine had to be pulled for bottom end service.
I worked 20 years in the engine rebuilding shops circa 70s-80s and although we did some of the old style "overhaul" work on older engines, including installing top ring groove spacers, knurling piston skirts, and using .001" or .002 undersized bearings to match a worn crankshaft, it was becoming a thing of the past. We tried to do a complete "rebuild" to insure new performance and life. Re-boring cylinders and fitting oversize pistons made ridge reamers a useless waste of time.
Occasionally someone doing their own overhaul would bring in a block for cleaning, honing, and cam bearings. Sometimes they enthusiastically used a ridge reamer and chewed up the tops of cylinder bores so bad that they now needed a rebore job! I think those things did more harm than good.