Scratched cylinder wall, what should i do?

[Covy Slayer]

Ive got a chevy 350 bored .30 over and im changing a blown head gasket. I got the head off and noticed one of my cylinders has a decent sized scratch going parallel with the piston stroke. My nail catches it a little bit but not real bad, i was wondering if I could fix this without pulling the piston entirely. Maybe I could hone it out but ive never dealt with a scratched cylinder wall and i dont really want to tear the motor apart to fix it, are there any ways to hone out a scratch without pulling the piston?

 

[bjohn07]

if it is just a minor scratch and barely caught my nail i would hone it out. but depending on how far down the scratch is determines if u need to pull the piston or not. if the piston is at its lowest point and u can still see the scratch close to it u prob need to pull the piston. can u take a pic to show how bad or how minor it is.

 

[Covy Slayer]

I dont have my camera with me right now, but really my question is what can I do to the visible scratch without actually tearing apart the motor. I figure doing something might be better than just putting it back together the way it is. I just dont have the proper equipment/space for an engine removal. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[bjohn07]

to answer ur question no u cant do anything without pullin the motor. honing might help but anytime i plan on honing a cylinder i pull the piston out. and if the scratch is to deep to hone out u are gonna have to bore the cylinder. i know a guy that honed his scratched cylinder out with the piston at bdc but he said alot of crap and small particles fall and got on piston and between rings so he ended up pulling the piston out anyway to clean it.