Alusil cylinders options

[garagejdm]

Originally Posted by boyt911sc

Phil,

I feel confident that re-ringing alusil cylinders in good condition is an option people could take. And I’ve done it multiple times and found no adverse effect. And I had rebuilt my first motor 25 years ago and few more projects followed.

Tony

Planning on re-ringing my 83 SC Alu-sil cylinders. They are in spec per all the measurements and the only real reason for me to re-ring is the motor came to me disassembled (basketcase). I'm trying to figure out which rings to use at this point though as I see a lot of conflicting information. Goetz rings are now listed to fit Nickasil OR Alusil cylinders although PCNA's catalog shows that the rings for the Schmidt (Alusil) cylinders are discontinued and do not supercede.

Also Tony I was trying to contact you per a suggestion from another user to see about having you rebuild my WUR/fuel head but for some reason the PM function, etc is not working.

[KTL]

FYI to those planning to re-plate Nikasil cylinders (edit) and possibly plate Alusil cylinders (edit). I received this email back in May 2021 from US Chrome:

A Message To Our Dealers

During the past year, we have received an overwhelming amount of work from our dealer network and retail community. With increased demand and a shortened supply of materials and resources due to the pandemic, our turn times have been drastically affected. We understand what that means to our dealers and these events have shown us that to be able to support you, we need to make a change.

For the foreseeable future, we are suspending all direct to consumer (retail) cylinder repair services. This means that we want our retail community to work directly with their local dealer. Our hope is that this will allow us to refocus on our turn time and also drive more business through your doors, to meet new faces, and build relationships.

You will have the option to assist these customers with sending in their cylinder to U.S. Chrome for plating services or in finding a suitable replacement option. We are currently only accepting jobs from dealers who are registered in our system. If you need to register, please visit our website to fill out our dealer application form.

We have also made changes to the services we will be offering going forward. We will no longer be welding cylinders in our repair process. We recommend the use of the several specialty shops that can sculpt and complete this type of repair. If you would like to take on the repair project, we now have a ‘Strip & Return Only’ option. We have also stopped offering our rush service as that would make those who are waiting, wait even longer.

We understand that behind every cylinder is someone who just wants to smile and have fun. These are the sports that we enjoy too, they are our passion, and while making these adjustments may be disappointing for some, it is the move we need to make to assist our dealers. Thank you again for working with us.

Looks like that dealer-only approach remains for 2022. Their pricing schedule on the website says so

https://www.usnicom.com/plating/pricing

And always make sure you know what the proper finished surface roughness must be and confirm the dealer relays it. Don't assume the plating vendor will know.

[ahh911]

garagejdm,

At first reading Bentley repair, quote "if equipped with Alusil pistons and cylinders, replace with Nikasil" and after counting the number of fins etc.., darn I have Alusil. Now I'm thinking I was lucky to have the Alusil, supposedly less wear longer lasting. If there was a problem, new cylinders and pistons, I'd skip re-plating, unless economy was an issue, I haven't looked lately, but I remember last year the euro spec cylinders and pistons were something like 4k a set, not bad, the u.s. version were getting up there $6k, but I wonder how many have worn out alusils.

Phil

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by KTL

FYI to those planning to re-plate Nikasil cylinders (edit) and possibly plate Alusil cylinders (edit). I received this email back in May 2021 from US Chrome:

A Message To Our Dealers

During the past year, we have received an overwhelming amount of work from our dealer network and retail community. With increased demand and a shortened supply of materials and resources due to the pandemic, our turn times have been drastically affected. We understand what that means to our dealers and these events have shown us that to be able to support you, we need to make a change.

For the foreseeable future, we are suspending all direct to consumer (retail) cylinder repair services. This means that we want our retail community to work directly with their local dealer. Our hope is that this will allow us to refocus on our turn time and also drive more business through your doors, to meet new faces, and build relationships.

You will have the option to assist these customers with sending in their cylinder to U.S. Chrome for plating services or in finding a suitable replacement option. We are currently only accepting jobs from dealers who are registered in our system. If you need to register, please visit our website to fill out our dealer application form.

We have also made changes to the services we will be offering going forward. We will no longer be welding cylinders in our repair process. We recommend the use of the several specialty shops that can sculpt and complete this type of repair. If you would like to take on the repair project, we now have a ‘Strip & Return Only’ option. We have also stopped offering our rush service as that would make those who are waiting, wait even longer.

We understand that behind every cylinder is someone who just wants to smile and have fun. These are the sports that we enjoy too, they are our passion, and while making these adjustments may be disappointing for some, it is the move we need to make to assist our dealers. Thank you again for working with us.

Looks like that dealer-only approach remains for 2022. Their pricing schedule on the website says so

https://www.usnicom.com/plating/pricing

And always make sure you know what the proper finished surface roughness must be and confirm the dealer relays it. Don't assume the plating vendor will know.

I’m sure they got sick of dealing with Joe public, not worth the hassle trying to accommodate all the stupid people in this world who want Chinese pricing, Amazon shipping and Rolex quality.

I do a lot of plating and have some nikasil recipes been trying to talk myself out of doing it. Green silicon carbide in 3 micron is not too cheap and some of the other ingredients are just a little nasty to have around the house. Have not priced a diamond hone either but I’m sure sticker shock would be in order. But it would be nice to be able to plate your own cylinders.