Scotchbriting cylinders? Please see pictures.
 

Picture one: from a used set said to have less than 10k miles after rebuild.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1254018539.jpg

Picture 2: from my original broken engine, with less marked/dense cross hatch pattern.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1254018603.jpg

Questions:
1. Is the first one over-honed?
2. Do I need to Scotchbrite both or just the second one?

I've test-treat a crap cylinder with degreaser, 3M pad/hot soap water as suggested in the excellent thread Do I need to hone this? but cannot see much difference after the Scotchbriting? The 3M pad I used is Maroon in color and is the only one I can find locally that looks similar to the red 7447 recommended. It feels pretty coarse when dry but soft after soaked in hot soap water. What should I expect to see after scotchbriting the cylinder? Thanks a lot!

Picture 3: 3M pad

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1254018998.jpg

Are those Nikasil or Alusil?
FWIW, I used the same pads on my Alusils, with good success. I covered a standard drill hone with them. I would wet the whole pad with soap water if I redid it. One minute seemed enough for me. I would scotch brite both, because it is a thinner honing than stones anyways.

The ScotchBrite treatment is designed to remove the oil graze from deep inside the cross hatch honing. It is not designed to replace or remove any of the Nikasil.
By removing the graze you create a new surface for the new ring to seat against.

Thank you both!
So the effect would not be visible and I cannot possibly damage the Nikasil surface no matter how enthusiastic I am at scrubing it. :)

Not sure if you would damage the surface, which you do not want to do, but a scotchbrite pad is fairly soft so it should be fine. Just concentrate only on areas that need it. These cylinders are pretty tough, and honing is not normally needed, like on a cast iron cylinder.