BBB Edelbrock intake. The water passages are eroding. I was thinking to clean the areas good and use JB Weld (high temp)to build it up. Thoughts? Cheers!
Not a bad plan. Welding and re-machining will be expensive. Don't count on epoxy to be a "lifetime" repair. Don't forget to check the radiator voltage now 'n' then. Flush the coolant and fix the electrical system grounds as needed.
If you're wanting to use a really good epoxy, then Splash Zone or Devcon type F will set you back enough to push welding to the front.
This can't be stressed enough. The main cause of cooling system corrosion(besides simple neglect) is excess current flowing through the system. This is among the many reasons why having good solid grounds with clean connections is so important. I'll run my battery negative to a cleaned spot of bare metal on the block as close to the starter as practical, then an additional 4 gauge ground from the block to the frame, as well as a couple of good grounding straps from the frame to the body. I also always run a 10 gauge ground from the alternator to the battery as well. Many older alternators have a ground terminal right on them, but you can also use the hold down bolt as well(again, making sure it's clean bare metal). You'd be surprised how much of a difference all this makes, especially on an old car with old wiring. Brighter headlights, easier starting, less radio interference from alternator whine, etc.. and of course, no electrolysis in the cooling system! I've used JB Weld on intake flanges like you describe before as well, with good luck. I wouldn't use it on an aluminum intake that is so badly corroded that it won't seal at all, but to shore up a questioanable flange it should be ok. You've got to really clean up the surface well before application though, including getting in all the little corroded crevasses to clean them of corrosion and such. I apply the JB Weld with a putty knife, pressing it hard into the indentations and smoothing it over even with the rest of the surface. After at least 48 hours to cure, I'll scuff up the surface lightly with sandpaper. I've done this a couple odd times with success so far, though time will tell how these last as the years and decades roll on. In one of my less proud moments where there was little choice at the time(my only car just out of high school and I had no money for another intake manifold), I JB Welded a thermostat housing onto a chevy 2bbl intake when one of the bolt hole ears broke right off the intake when removing a rusty bolt. About half of the threads remained, so I cleaned it all up well, coated both gasket surfaces with JB, installed the housing with a new thermostat, built it up around the exposed bolt and let it sit for about a day. Well it worked, and I drove it like that for a few months and a ton of miles before I sold the car. So there's that.
Set this one aside but don't scrap it. Times like this are where I set castings aside for a different purpose than intended, such as for intentions of drastic modifications, like when welding is needed to suit the new purpose. There isn't any reason to scrap all but a broken in half casting, and even then it's entirely fixable if you are willing to put the money into it. The main reason for the automotive world to discard stuff like this is because of cost/risk factors. The automotive casting market is kept distanced from qualified repair and the sharing of such techniques because these castings are incredibly cheap and companies don't want to hassle with them when there's a vast amount of really expensive industrial castings to keep them busy until the end of fossil fuel as we know it (referring to iron, mainly). Right now you are about to put quite a bit of time into a questionable outcome, maybe one you haven't tried before. If there's any further risk of damage to the engine then simply don't do it. If you don't mind playing around with it then by all means jump in, you'll have fun and the rewards that go with it will be worthwhile. Maybe there's a Mopar guy wanting to cut the water portion off of the Buick manifold because he has a secret plan in mind.
