Back in the day I worked in an engine rebuild plant and we repaired blocke with cracks screwing in one plug next to the other all along the cracl, but that looks pretty bad I don't know if that would work on that.
Does it run? If it does jb. Weld the crack and keep driving. I would say no it is not repairable other than a bandaid of sort
That's more like a gaping wound than a crack. If everything else is good, theres a couple of ways to try fixing that and a ton of threads on this forum to read about them. Real question is why try. If it was mine, I'd be looking for a Flathead V8 to transplant.
IS that the only break? If so, all the outer skin has to do is hold water. Braze or epoxy will fix that. But if it's broke inside, it's junk, IMO.
Look at the cob webs and layer of dry dirt... that engine hasn't run in a loooong time. Even the crack is dry, indicating this is an old break. If it was a 409 or early Hemi block, I'd say repair it. It's a flat six Ford. Yank it. If you JB Weld it, the JB Weld will simply sit on the outside of the crack and bond to the outside of the block. The water in the block heats up and the pressure looks for places to escape. The pressure will push the JB off that crack from the back side, and you'll end up with a constant leak at best, or the whole thing will come off in one big sheet at worst. And that's to say nothing of the heat expansion/contraction that block will go through from operation and shut-down. You might be able to have it brazed, but unless you can do it yourself, it's going to be expensive... if you can find a machine shop that can handle the dying art. If you're looking to buy that car, pretend it didn't come with an engine, but DOES have all the accessory brackets, etc. -Brad
A cost/benefit analysis says says some things are worth it, some... not so much. That was cool though. Interesting that the steel plate was used with cast steel. I'd love to see how they drill the overlapping holes, both thru the crack, and through the two adjacent pins already in place. I've watched Lamar Walden repair cracked 409 blocks with specially-made cast iron rods and a TIG welder. That's incredibly time consuming. But when a "junk" 409 passenger car block goes for $1000, and good blocks go for $3500-up, it makes sense. -Brad
Yes, it can be repaired if you have the time and patience. As said earlier, it can be 'stitched' using 1/8" pipe plugs, but it will be a tedious job. Back in the day I also worked rebuilding engines, and we did many a block as bad or worse than that. Done properly, the stitch will be stronger than the original cast area and will not weep or leak.
I too have repaired blocks with "stitching" both on the external and internal surfaces when I rebuilt motors for a living. Haven't done it in a few years and have wondered if another way has been developed? Never had a failure that I was aware of in the 5 years that I did it. We also always "peened" the repaired area after stitching to "blend" in the surrounding metal with the stitch pins, then needle scaled it to make it look like a solid piece of cast again.
here is the answer to why. to see if it will work, to learn something, or just to say you did it. a buddy of mine and i once stripped a '51 chevy that was heavily rotted and smashed and then chopped it before calling the scrap yard. it was fun, and we learned something.
probably not the most cost effective way to go about this, but you can fix that block. a buddy of mine had a set of original 1969 harley cast iron cylinders that had a bunch of broken fins on them that were junk in most peoples' eyes. they were still std. bore and had the correct casting numbers on them for his restoration. he cut fins off new cylinders and arc welded them in place of the broken ones and immediately layed a cold, wet towel over his welds to prevent cracks from the cast iron and his welding rod material cooling at different rates. He then spent hours smoothing all of his welds to make the repairs invisible. my point is, if you are determined to keep the original engine in that car, and have some patience and knowledge, anything is possible.
I wonder if it'd be possible to fit a steel plate over the damaged section, covering it completely? Doing a welded plate would probably be tricky, and require heating the bare block prior to welding. But what about drilling and tapping, then bolting a plate to the block?
Looks like the crack is in a spot that might be subject to pull from the head bolt directly above it. That would make me cautious of using the overlapping stud approach mentioned before. Just this evening I welded a cast iron cylinder fin on an AJS 500 single using a MIG welder. The trick is to keep everything as cool as possible to prevent the cast iron from cracking on cooling. So this might be an option for you. If this were mine (and I really wanted to keep the motor) I would try to get it running (or to just fire off) to see if there were any other major problems first. It would be a shame to put in all the repair work if you had a stuck motor that wasnt worth rebuilding. If you think the motor is worth saving, pull it out so you have easy access to the crack. I would then cut out the bad cast iron and fit a filler patch of steel. Bevel the steel and cast iron sides and tack in place with your mig. Slowly weld up the patch keeping it as cool as possible (just do a little at a time). Test for leaks, and either re-weld or braze pinhole leaks. Its a long shot that you would be able to keep the cast iron from cracking around the weld, but if you are willing to give it a try, you really dont have anything to lose. And if the surrounding metal cracks in spite of everything, you have already pulled the motor out for its replacement Good Luck!
Sure, but is it worth it, I am sure you can find another block / engine. When I worked in a machine shop one policy was NOT to weld a crack that passed through, or to, a freeze plug (it was up north) hole. You have close to 18" of welding. But first you have to make sure no internal passages or webbing to a cylinder is cracked. Drilling and pinning is an option. After you weld you will have to seal the block, thus reducing the heat transfer.
I have done stitching it is a viable repair in many applications. Some general good info here also. http://www.locknstitch.com/CastIronWelding.htm Tig.
If you could do this repair yourself, you probably wouldn't be asking. To PAY someone to fix that sort of damage in a flathead ford six?? Nowhere NEAR worth it. Yank it.
id have to say find another block to use,,,,for what it will cost to repair this,you could find a usable block to build....and you would have the peace of mind knowing its correct...not saying this cant be done ..but id much rather have a non-repaired block in my car,,,
NO ! I honestly wouldn't even thick about it . I would pull the engine and take all the parts out I could use on a good block . There are plenty of those engines around . Save yourself the work and tow bill and just get another engine . Just my opinion as an engine re builder ! Retro Jim
Considering Ford did not have numbers matching blocks with the body, who is to know what motor came in it, put a nother six in it and go!
There is a local welder who has repaired cracks in my block. Runs about $100 per crack. But I didn't have anything that looked like yours. If you were around here I would say go ask the guy who welded mine. Sp go ask some guy near you who welds iron blocks.
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