Is it possible to weld a lateral crack on the outside of the water jacket? The crack starts at the front frost plug and get to the middle frost plug and the starts again on the other side of that plug and then continues on the the back frost plug. I cant really see for sure if the crack goes all the way through the water jacket, or if it is just a surface crack. Could it be welded or should I say screw it and find another block. 39
Depends on what it is. If it's a '22 RollsRoyce,it can be fixed. If it's a 350 Chevy,you can get another block for less than the cost of trying to fix that one.
Does it run? I had a crack all the way down the side of a 223 Ford six and it barely stayed damp. Weld ing a block is a lost art and a tedious one that offered less than perfect results. To do it right required preheating the whole block I saw a guy pin shut a crack in an old 4 banger chevy boat engine, then epoxy a patch over the whole thing. It took him all day as he had to drill and tap about 100 overlapping plugs. I have had some success welding cast iron without preheating. I just weld about 1/2 inch and peen the **** out of it with the pointed end of the chipping hammer until it is almost cool enough to touch, then repeat. I do this with an arc welder and common cast iron welding rod. It would still help to have it warmed up some, like setting out in the sun and not doing it to a block that was setting on the cold floor in the winter.
There is a way to repair cracked blocks without welding them. Repco in Australia developed it and I used to work for a guy in Holland that perfected it. It is done with tapered plugs, and I saw it in one of the Rodding magazines here a couple of years ago...
Yeah Repco use to be good, now that they have gone head to head against K-mart in the car air freshener market they ****.
I second the JB Weld. It's a good temporary fix. Use a dremel or die grinder to V the crack out slightly, and fill it with JB. -Jeff
Heat it first. One of the major issues with block/head repairs is that they are done at room temperature. Once the engine heats up and expands, the leak returns..not so shocking, really. I'd recommend putting the subject part into an oven, heat it to about 250, and do the repair. Once the part cools, it shouldn't leak when the engine is running at normal (200 or so) operating temps. Scotch~!
The block I used for my hemi developed leaks from cracks that my ex-machinist said wouldn't be a problem. Driving down the road it was fine but when I would get on the loud pedal the cracks would open up and leak big time. If you are building the engine and have another block I highly recomend using one without cracks. Since my engine was together and running , and since I don't have the $ to build another I tried the JB weld. It helped but wasn't strong enough for the structural part of it. Didn't take long to crack through the JB. Moroso ceramic seal also helped a bit but not enough. I decided to weld it for real. With the engine together in the car I did a bunch of cleaning and grinding the cracks. Then I heated the areas to weld with a propane torch and welded a first p*** with my mig. It made a pretty splattery weld so most got ground off. The second p*** looked a lot better. One of the cracks went right through where the center freeze plug is. I was able to put a secong freeze plug in over the first (not the cup style... this is a hemi) and weld it in. After all the welds were done and cooled slow I checked and it did indeed still leak around the welds but my structural problem was solved. I dried the block good with a propane torch and then put a bunch of JB weld quick over the top. Dry as a bone now. That means I won't get backed down for leaking at the HAMB drags like last year.
The crack can be easily repaired without welding! It takes some patients but realy doesn't cost anything but time. Don't use J B Weld. It's grate for a lot of things but not cracked blocks. If possible lay the motor over where you can work on it easily. Lay out a drill template to center punch drill holes in exact spacing folling the crack line. Make the spacing between the center punch marks "Exactly" .700. Drill and tap for 3/8 nc bolts. Use grade 3 black steel bolts. Drill and tap the full length of the crack. Now one at a time run a bolt in each hole with red locktight on them and cut off tht heads close to the block surface. Don't run the bolts in any further than the thickness of the block. When done walk away for 2 or 3 days. Next, grind what's left of the bolts flush to the block. Then start at one end and one at a time drill and tap in between each bolt and instal as you go another 3/8" bolt. It will create an overlaping joint and re grind the new bolts off. It takes some patients but works well and little or no cost. Any more questions P.M. me. Reaolize this is just my way and not the only way. The Wizzard
get a small lp gas burner to heat your part to somewhere in the 400-600 range if you got an arc welder use a nickel rod... its really hard to weld cast iron without it cracking if its not preheated well enough .. if it was me i would try brazing it just v-notch the crack clean the **** out of it preheat to 350 and go to it.. just my thoughts good luck with it
As you can see a lot of these guys that have tried to weld blocks have had less than satisfactory results. I don't know there qualifacations as welders but I personaly have been welding over 40 years. I have welded cast iron many times with good results. Even with that said I would hesitate to weld a water jacket brake in a block. The thread bolt and lock tight process will work excelent even for the most novice home builder. The Wizzard
First thing, you wanna find a prime spot that some other dealer isn't using. If you don't already live there, move to Houston or Dallas-always full of clientele....oh wait, you were talking about an engine block crack.. .Sorry...
[ QUOTE ] Lay out a drill template to center punch drill holes in exact spacing folling the crack line. Make the spacing between the center punch marks "Exactly" .700. Drill and tap for 3/8 nc bolts. Use grade 3 black steel bolts. [/ QUOTE ] Pist-n-Broke, what is a drill template? At .700, isnt that 7 tenths of an inch? When you drill the holes at that spacing and put bolts in, doesnt that leave a gap between each bolt?, I realize that you go back and make a second p***, but wouldnt it be better if the first row of bolts were all right next to eachother (gapless) and then a new hole drilled right between them at the seam? Why not use nf threads? and isnt grade 3 a fairly low grade? Or do you want a low graded bolt? I dont mean to contest your knowledge or anything because like you said you have had over 40 years experience (thats double my AGE haha), but I was just wondering because I am going to look into helping 39 with this crack and I wanna make sure I understand before I start. I would really appreciate it if you replied back. Thanks Briggs
Run engine up to temp to be sure thermostat is open. Pour one bottle 36 oz of ketchup in radator, replace cap and go for a twenty minute drive. Let the car cool for a few hours before driving again. Your done. Ketchup is the best crack seal you can buy. I have used this method on blocks that a water fall runs out of , has always worked.
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