In Reply to: dropped 8n cylinder s;eeves posted by Wally on August 08, 2026 at 09:48:25:
Does the engine have the .040" or .090" thick sleeves. The .040" sleeves don't have much of a lip, and if the pistons are froze to the sleeve, it is possible the lip broke and the sleeves moved instead. If the engine already had a .005" oversized sleeve and the previous owner installed the standard size outside dimension, then yes, the wrong sleeve could have been used. But the sleeve would have been obviously sloppy in the block bore.
Without the proper tools it is hard to precisely measure the bore in the block. If the engine did not run with the sleeves moving or a broken sleeve, then you can probably install new sleeves and pistons and be fine. The sleeves should be a press fit and not a slip fit. If you have to lightly tap them in or they just fall in, then they are too loose and either need an oversized sleeve or needs the block bored out for the .090" if it originally had .040" sleeves. You might also get by with a green Loctite sleeve retainer product if it is a light press fit.
I ran into an odd issue last year when I overhauled an engine for a friend on a tractor he had just bought. One sleeve dropped and broke and the piston was running in the block. When I removed the rest of the sleeves, two were tight as they should be and the third was barely a press fit. In fact, I could still see the printing on the outside of the sleeve which was a Ford brand sleeve. I had to replace the one sleeve with an oversized sleeve since the piston was running in the block and egged it out, but when I installed the other three sleeves with aftermarket, all three were a tight press fit. So the previous Ford brand sleeve evidently was undersized, most likely the reason the one sleeve dropped. So you can't always trust new parts to be correct.