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I use water. That’s right. Water. It’s free and also environmentally friendly.
For years I used honing oil building V8’s and other engines but it was always a challenge to get the blocks perfectly clean after as the oil would wash into every nook and cranny carrying the abrasive grit with it. When I started using ball hones on outboard blocks it was the same so one day I thought I’d try something different trying something which was basically free and cleaned up easily, water.
To do it, I fill one bucket with warm water out of the tap and add a fair amount of dish soap to it to act as a lubricant. Another bucket gets filled with really hot water for the rinsing solution. The block will sit flat in the bucket of soapy water with the open end of the cylinders facing up so it’s easy to get the hone into the cylinders. Once the cylinders are done, I rinse it out really well in the other bucket of hot water to remove any grit and soapy residue. A small disposable resin brush can be used to help clean the inside of the crankcase and the bypass/exhaust ports. Sometimes I’ll rinse them under a tap but a roll of paper towels, a can of WD-40 and a fully charged air compressor with a blow gun on the end of the hose have to be ready as the cylinders will start to rust as soon as they are pulled out of the rinse water. First I blow the cylinders dry followed by a quick spray of the WD-40 and then a wipe with a paper towel. Then the rest of the block can be dried off with the air gun. A paper towel sprayed with the WD can then be used to wipe the cylinders again until a clean towel shows no residue on it. Using hot water for the rinse also helps to dry the block off.
I’ve found doing it this way has several benefits. First, I don’t have to deal with any special oils or cleaning solvents, second, the water can be poured down the drain or dumped on the lawn, and third, I don’t have to change out of my dirty clothes or wash my hands after.
You are sooo right, cleaning the block after honing is a critical step that is often not done well enough. There is nothing more discouraging than seeing the vertical scratches after reassembly….