Dang, dude. I was feeling good about this one. Agree with Dale on all accounts. I wouldn't go too deep until you know there isn't another cracks elsewhere. If not, consider sleaving the hole.
No idea how it would get a crack like that. The piston and rod are still perfect. The valves in that cylinder are perfect. Maybe it over heated, or was over boosted, or it’s just too thin? I’ll start to look at the 4th engine I have or use the good 392 fuel Hemi I have?
Usually cracks like that are from freezing with plain water instead of antifreeze. If no other cracks show up when magged, a sleeve will fix it properly.
Yep - and I believe the "fix" you put in place will be just fine. I would have it magged around that area, and the whole rest of the block - just to make sure you don't have other cracks you can't see. You can always use some "Lock-N-Stitch" techniques to repair any you might find. Then, have the block baked and blasted to get any rust/scale out of the guts of it - then pressure tested. I've seen blocks with cracks in the exhaust ports - that were only found with pressure testing. If it passes all that, then sonic tested for cylinder wall thickness. This way, you'll truly know what you're starting with - before investing in expensive machining operations and associated parts.
As time marches on, I'm starting to believe a vast majority of the complete flatheads engine were taken out due to catastrophic failure reasons while in a car/truck. When factoring in your time, you may want to start looking for a known good bare block so you don't keep having this heartbreak. Plus, you don't have to keep dealing with heavy, cast iron scrap that some scrap yards won't take unless you hit a specific tonnage.
Also, can you tell us how you are getting these block so clean so quickly? I'd really like to know and give is whirl with some of my blocks. Thanks,
Block cleaned with a wire cup on the outside. Bores cleaned with a deglasing ball hone and machine surfaces clean with 2” Scotch Brite pads.
That cast bell is not strong enough to hold a motor. Can you do it? Sure, many have. You may get lucky since it's only a bare block. NEVER support a full 59-series motor by the bell. That's why KR Wilson and other OE Ford tool makers designed their stands to mount the motor using the exhaust manifold bolts.
Dropped off 4 disc brake rotors the other day and collected CAN$11.00. Was surprised I got that much.
That is decent. The scrap yard by me in J won't even take cast iron unless you either have a ton or more or you are recycling something else like copper, aluminum, old computers, etc.
I made the same engine adapter but drilled and use all 6 holes for maximum safety. I still don´t feel realy safe when a fully built engine hangs on those 6 exhaust bolts...
My adapter only has 4 bolts and as long as the threads in the block are good AND you use 7/16 NC bolts for the front two (many newbies don't notice this - and put 3/8" NC - which can get your feet smashed!) - then you'll be good.
Agree. My first flathead sat on my engine stand with my DIY engine adapter plate mounted with four bolts probably close to a year. The load/stress on the four bolts I’m sure is well below their yield strength. Just use quality hardware and have sufficient thread engagement and all will be good. I did notice while getting the HellsGate exhaust manifold plate mounted, the thread depth of the exh manifold mounting holes were all over the place and I had to cut down a few of the bolts as they were bottoming out before the underside of the bolt head had contact with the manifold plate.
I built my adapter out of 3/8” plate to use six bolts and drilled and slotted to fit each of my three engine stands - all with different diameter yokes.
There used to be a few guys that did furnace welding and fixing of blocks - most of them are long gone these days. That is part of the issue - the skills, tools and techniques that were used on a lot of our vintage engines are slowly disappearing.
What are the pros and cons of installing pistons with the exhaust mount virsus the way I like to do it. Mounting off the front.
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