My Scrambler started making a ticking sound in the cylinder are awile back. It has progressively gotten worse and is now alot louder. I'm guessing the rings are going and it's rebuild time. If so, what kind of piston and rings should I get? How big of a piston should I put in over the stock bore? I also want to get the cylinder ported while I have it out. Is there anything there to look out for when shopping around for a machinist? I was thinking of sending the cylinder to RCR and have him do everything since I used him for my pipe and head. Will that be the best way to go? By the way, it's still the original piston in it now.

 

The ticking sound could just be a blown gasket somewhere or an exhaust leak. You can take wd-40 and spary around everything to find the leak. Do it with a cool engine and the idle will change when you find the leak. You could also have carbon build-up or clogged jets making the noise. If you have the factory piston,which I see you do, the skirt could also be cracked. You can take the intake and exhaust off to inspect most of the piston for damage. A compression test should yield a minimum of 115psi. Wiseco is recommended for these engines, if you have to get a re-bore, only go up one size so you will have a bore job left in case you may have to re-build again. Talk to Bubba297 on here for the porting, he is good at it and has done alot of peoples porting. RCR would probably be good for the mods since you have used him in the past, I would talk to Bubba though about the porting.

 

I agree with NCScrambler,just bore to the next size.Definitely go with a wiseco piston.As far as the porting goes i think Rick or Bubba would be your best bet.Later.

 

I had Bubba do the porting on my engine. He did a great job and has done alot of 400's. Boring should be 1 size over to give you more time on the cylinder. Wiseco is the best piston to use. After doing this rebuild it should be alot longer till you have to do the next one.If you wanted to save some down time look for a good machine shop in your area that specializes in boring engines. This should be cheaper,You wont have to pay shipping charges and it is usually done within a couple of days. If you send the cylinder out to HPD or RCR it might take a month or so before you get it back.

 

If I do get it ported, will I lose any low end power?

 

No, you will gain bottom end with porting. You couls also send the head off to be machined which gives more compression and also more torque. Costs around $50-$60 for head machining. When I had my cylinder ported, I sent it to Aaen and got it back within 2 weeks from the time I shipped it to the time I recieved it back. Bubba also has a very quick turn around time.

 

Great, I'm looking to keep my low end power the same or better. I'm not so much concerned with top end power. I already have my head machined - RCR did it. How do I get in touch with Bubba? I'd like to know how much he charges for a piston, gasket set, cylinder bore and fit new piston, and a port job.

 

Find a post on here from Bubba297 and PM him about it. He will help you out as much as he can.

 

Have you checked the counterbalancer???