M20 cylinder walls - need hone and re-ring or no?

[zaq123]

I picked up a running-when-pulled M20B27 from a friend's trusted shop for $100 to begin my 2.7i engine build. Engine was complete but had been sitting in the corner of the shop for a while. I stripped it down to the short block yesterday and was a little surprised to see the cylinder walls with quite a bit of visible cross-hatching. I don't know how many miles are on this engine or if it's been rebuilt in the past. From everything I saw it looks very clean on the inside (I pulled the oil pan and looked great under there. Head is also in good shape aside from some carbon buildup to match the pistons).

So here's my question... Does this seem normal or am I looking at a problem? Did the rings never fully seat? Cylinder walls have a perfectly smooth feel with fingertips but a nail can feel the hatching still. Can I clean the pistons, clean and wipe everything down with oil and button it back up?

looks like typical M20 block. Mine looked like that with 160k miles on the clock. It all depends how much of a build you are doing. Are you pulling the crank out and replacing bearings? New rings etc?

If yes to the above, I would at least make sure that bores are still round and not damaged all the way through, slightly re-hone it for new rings, pull oil gallery plugs on each side and clean the block very well inside and out. Check the deck to make sure it is still true and you should be good.

[the_eskimo_wonder]

I picked up a running-when-pulled M20B27 from a friend's trusted shop for $100 to begin my 2.7i engine build. Engine was complete but had been sitting in the corner of the shop for a while. I stripped it down to the short block yesterday and was a little surprised to see the cylinder walls with quite a bit of visible cross-hatching. I don't know how many miles are on this engine or if it's been rebuilt in the past. From everything I saw it looks very clean on the inside (I pulled the oil pan and looked great under there. Head is also in good shape aside from some carbon buildup to match the pistons).

So here's my question... Does this seem normal or am I looking at a problem? Did the rings never fully seat? Cylinder walls have a perfectly smooth feel with fingertips but a nail can feel the hatching still. Can I clean the pistons, clean and wipe everything down with oil and button it back up?