Bon Ami -"Ain't Scratched Yet" for rings

All natural soft mineral powder not sand like abrasives of other common powders. Baby chicks don't scratch for feed till a few days old...


I'm assembling a Kohler Magnum 18 hp boxer twin today whoose bores were ovaled prior to Bore Tech Ni Si Carbide treatment and fitting .020" over short skirt pistons so am about to wd40 bores to hold Bon Ami dusting on them for fast sure ring seating sealing. Will do same to Ms Peel and Trixie too and might even put a bit in the break in engine oil. I am pointing this out for others to get similar results as I and many others have a about 70's yr now but of course expect more will ignore it.

The method on assembled running engine is Bon Ami in old sock that's bounced against carb mouth while blipping throttle then for extra cleaning spray water into blipped up carbs till the grey crap out mufflers tappers off. Will also use Bon Ami to clean off protective coat on polished parts stored way too long. First made famous in early '50's V8's that failed to stop smoking otherwise. Total Seal finally got the meassage about 15 yr ago so now sells their own dry ring seal powder though for the chickens afraid to assemble dry they will tell them can use wd40 to calm novice builders minds w/o telling them the wd40 is mostly evaporated off by time to start and first ignition flashes off any remainder for the dry power seating to work as intended.

https://www.google.com/#q=bon+ami+to+se ... gs&spell=1

We would use Crest toothpaste to "pre-run-in" the rings on our R/C airplane engines. It polished them quite nicely and allowed full power to be utilized much earlier in the break-in regiment.

Bon Ami is great for cleaning the windshield of your car. Gets all the road grime and bugs off and polishes the glass to boot.

There was a post on one of the Triumph forums recently about using Bon Ami to lap rings from an old hand who seems to know what he is talking about. He constructs a "con rod" out of a piece of wood and laps the rings in the barrel before assembly then takes everything apart and cleans thoroughly.
http://www.triumphrat.net/vintage-techn ... rings.html

Alternative ways to apply. Mix in water or any type ATF or light solvent like wd40 or Marvel's M.O. and spritz in carb with engine at cam break in rpm. Also can wd40 and finger rub in bore or just dry dusted and lung blow out excess to avoid piling it up at TDC. Two types of Bon Ami original red label and improved gold label which is even better as neither is harsh abrasive on the scale of Comet or Ajax which also have reactive chlorine that can corrode and not so bio degradable.

http://www.bonami.com/index.php/about_b ... ewardship/

http://www.bonami.com/index.php/product ... _cleanser/

TotalSeal got message almost 20 yr now.
Promotes Longer Ring Life
Total Seal's Quickseat Dry Assembly Lube is a powder that has been developed for quicker, more effective ring seating. Simply spread Quickseat on the cylinders and assemble the engine as you usually would and you will experience improved ring seating. In extensive dyno testing, use of Quickseat in conjunction with Total Seal Gapless piston rings allowed for leakage rates to be 0-1% after about 5 minutes of break-in time on the engine. Sold individually in a 2 gram container.


Caterpillar Part No.7F5225 Break-in Powder [Bon Ami]
Caterpillar Serviceman's Reference Book for Diesel Engines (5 3/4" BORE 4-CYLINDER) D8800 Industrial, D8800 Electric Set, D8800 Marine, and D7 Tractor.
http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-b ... th=1262344

I've been using BON AMI to bed rings for about 30 years.
I mix it with liquid detergent. Fit the rings on the piston and coat the cylinder with the mixture. Push the piston up and down the cylinder about 40 times,adding mixture as necessary.Inspect the rings to see if they're seated,then wash off the mixture on the cylinder and piston with water. Don't remove the rings from the piston.

When it's all clean,assemble the engine.

Is there an English (UK) supplier equivalent of this BON AMI :?:

Bernhard said:

Is there an English (UK) supplier equivalent of this BON AMI :?:

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It's French, you can't use that in the UK

WOW!! I mean it! WOW!! I try to gather as much knowledge from older mechanics, hot rodders, bike builers, etc. as I can. This is one I hadn't heard before! I've been on this forum for less than a week, and now intend to stay forever! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome knowledge! You guys rock!

With most guys Norton knowledge is probably 90% learned from others. The other 9% is stuff you figured out yourself. 1% missing you say? Well that's the stuff that makes no sense at all. Some of that 1% I've seen posted on this forum.

JimC said:

With most guys Norton knowledge is probably 90% learned from others. The other 9% is stuff you figured out yourself. 1% missing you say? Well that's the stuff that makes no sense at all. Some of that 1% I've seen posted on this forum.

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Amen.

and that 1% comes largely from one person :shock:

concours said:

JimC said:

With most guys Norton knowledge is probably 90% learned from others. The other 9% is stuff you figured out yourself. 1% missing you say? Well that's the stuff that makes no sense at all. Some of that 1% I've seen posted on this forum.

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Amen.

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I'm probably all wet on this one, but introducing a friction agent into an engine seems antithetical, to me anyway. If you could just get that BonAmi to stay in the cylinder and not mix with the oil I'd be a whole lot more comfortable with it.

I was overhauling a Ford 9N tractor engine for a friend long ago. He was a bit of a cheap skate. The bores had a big taper, hardly any compression left, to the point the engine would not run. I told him we need to bore and sleeve. He said he'd heard of an old mechanics trick of using Comet cleanser to retore compression. Well, I bored and sleeved and ground the valves and seats. Had that 9N purring like a kitten. He didn't seem to mind spending the bucks once he saw the results.

MIght call a few French hotels or fancy restaurants/bars and their suppliers and ask if they have equivalent or some to share. I'd send a cup full if need be but wonder if the powder would cause international alarm. Might try online too form JEGS or TotalSeal too but its not generally needed unless rings hesitant to seal some mostly just faster more sure way to be get on with the show. Its still mind twisting to on purpose dump 'grit' and water inside instead of cleaning and filtering it out.

On the ancient and withering British Iron email list a frame material question led into temperature gradients on types of steel plate brittleness as involved in sinking the Titanic, which actually was the damaged sister ship Columbia, switcheroo'd for insurance scam and an ocean going 9/11 event that eliminated main opposition to the Federal Reserve Act.

mikegray660 said:

and that 1% comes largely from one person :shock:

concours said:

JimC said:

With most guys Norton knowledge is probably 90% learned from others. The other 9% is stuff you figured out yourself. 1% missing you say? Well that's the stuff that makes no sense at all. Some of that 1% I've seen posted on this forum.

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Amen.

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Can't imagine who!

JimC,
I'm with you. After scrupulously cleaning parts, I hate the thought of leaving any new gunk in there. However I do like the idea of lapping the rings with bon ami before assembling the engine. If you look at this link, in the second method he does the lapping on the bench then cleans all of the parts before final assembly. Believe I will use this technique on my next rebuild. Mr Pete is a long time poster on the Triumph boards and I have come to value his advice over the years.
http://www.triumphrat.net/vintage-techn ... ngs-2.html

gearboxx70 said:

WOW!! I mean it! WOW!! I try to gather as much knowledge from older mechanics, hot rodders, bike builers, etc. as I can. This is one I hadn't heard before! I've been on this forum for less than a week, and now intend to stay forever! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome knowledge! You guys rock!

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You probably never heard about it because, one it was used mostly on chrome ring earth mover engines or folk bedding in the rings on a back yard BSA Bantam rebuild, Brasso was used also.
Rings have changed a lot in the last 30 years. :roll:
Last week it was mixing this crap in with the oil, now its grinding the piston skirt into the bore via abrasive :lol:

Folk used to sand the high spots off pistons too.

I've used Bon Ami in my hot rod Chevy van 406cid V8 449hp/449 tq that installers put in richest Holley fuel needles so it about pulled wheelies in parking lots throttle stomps but was so rich washed oil off bores and never seated rings so smoke first 2000 miles so Bon Ami ring job in a can + water chaser stopped that after I re jetted carb. I've 2 more test cases to try, one on my new mower rebuild and also Trixie with almost new rings but case leaks to re-seal, so will coat bores before start up and see if I eat up my engines or get great fast sealing a longer time. Both are Bore Tech carbide coated so get to test its wear resistant claims too.

or knurling the pistons to take up the slop in the cylinders then just slapping some rings in.

Ms Peel factory .020" over pistons ended up a bit too loose .006"-ish after bores touched up so shop kurled her pistons and may of been some of her power advantage d/t lower friction and dragging oil layer better on bores. Thankgoodness didn't slap but did find most the kurls rubbed off after her over rev event though no bad sounds 2000 miles further.