I was poking around under the Wildcat today I spotted a hairline crack on the bottom of the block. It is on the driver's side, just forward of the starter. It's a good 4" long. This scares the crap out of me. Here's the crazy part. I have owned this 63 Wildcat for 25+ years now and it's never leaked. Now keep in mind that the car has never been driven in that time, but had always been running and drivable. I will start it and move it around about every month or two. I have never seen it leak at all in the last 25 years. From the pictures I took today, you can see the discoloration of the green paint below the crack. If it is leaking, it must only be a drop or two. I don't remember seeing this crack when I painted the motor in 2004. When I bought the car in 1987, two of the freeze plugs on the driver's side were missing, so this crack may have been there since then. I know that since 1987 there has always been antifreeze in the system, can't say what was in there before I bought it. I did replace all the freeze plugs in 2004. So here's my question. Do I pull the motor now and deal with trying to get it welded (if that's even an option) or do I grind it down and JB weld it? Chris
Cast iron is very difficult to weld successfully. The common practice is to metal stich it closed. It'll be as good as new and last
Cast Iron needs to be heated up in an oven before welding .Then once it's welded it is returned to the oven to cool slowly .This is done to prevent it from stressing. It can be fixed. Don't know what it will cost
Chris,,, that thing most likely, has been there all along.... you are not using coolant... I would not worry about it..... it will rust shut.... and most likely has,,,, if it goes to leaking, it will start slowly losing coolant... and you will know it.... When you finally pull it out for a rebuild, if you do, that is the time to deal with it..... It can be ''cold welded'' with stainless steel or nickle rods or it can be interlock stitched....but the engine will have to be out of the car for either one of those fixes.....
Thats the weakest point on that engine for a freeze crack. I've seen quite a few cracked there in just the past 3 years. That crack looks like a good candidate for stitching. http://www.locknstitch.com/ Or even simpler, since it appears to be at the bottom of the water jacket, perhaps an epoxy filler could be used to seal the crack from the inside. This filler is more often used to reinforce the lower extremities block during a performance engine build but would do double duty for this application. I wouldn't be too concerned though until you are ready to rebuild the engine. If you start driving extended distances where the engine gets up to full operating temp for awhile, just keep an eye on it and let that dictate what you do and when. It certainly isn't something that will suddenly blow out and leave you stranded.
That is an easy stitch fix.You could do it in a heartbeat.You either take it to a good machine shop or buy the tooling yourself and complete it. I have used many stitch repairs with good results.Google them and see results.It doesn't have as many drawbacks as welding. W
I agree with Wilber,watch the video of the process,it's very interesting to see.It looks to be a very strong repair.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the help. I am still thinking about what I am going to do at this point. I can do nothing. repair it. Replace the motor. It's that easy! Chris
I would lock stitch it. Nailheads are tough. Mine has had a sleeved cylinder for 36 years. It runs very strong
More info here: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?248283-Cracked-Block&p=2033405&highlight=#post2033405
After looking at this post, I now see how common it is for the block to fail if left to freeze. The pictures in the other thread look almost exactly the same as mine. I have the body off the car right now. I am so tempted to pull it and get another motor while the access is so good. The motor only has 72,000 miles and is fully detailed.
Another question: For these stitch or welding repairs to be made, I know you have to heat the block up. Depending on the repair method, I have seen heating by ovens or torches. How far does the motor need to be disassembled for heating? Magnafluxing would require complete disassembling down to the bare block correct? Chris
I don't believe any heating is needed for the stitching (at least I never did). Repair can be done on the car with the only disassemble being what you need to remove to gain sufficient access to the crack. Just be sure to pressure check it and if any leaks are found you can just plug it with another stitch. Time consuming process (less consuming than complete disassembly to be able to weld it proper) but it works pretty decent if you want to save the block.
No heating required when stitching. you are probably confusing it with the welding process where the whole block should be preheated. Magnafluxing typically involves magnetization of the area of concern and then the use of an iron oxide powder applied in the area of suspected crack. The powder particles will align themselves around a crack. For the best inpection you just need to have the block oriented so the powder can lay on it. So for external freeze type cracks the block would not have to be disassembled but would need put on an engine stand. You do not have to disassemble the block to stitch it but would be a good idea to remove the freeze plugs to vacuum or flush out any metal particles from the stitching/drilling operation.
No heating involved in stitching.At least three companies have a system all require a small amount of tooling and away you go.If you have good skills it is not a difficult repair easily done.As I mentioned I have done lots with great success. Silver Seal Locnstitch and Irontite are ones I have used. http://www.locknstitch.com/ http://irontite.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2 http://www.silver-seal.com/results.cgis?catalog=&keywords=crack+repair&x=0&y=0 W
I was going to say if you are only driving it every month or two that you should probably do nothing to it but now that I see you have the body off, you might as well see what can be done to repair it. Otherwise, you might be asking yourself why you didn't do it when you had complete access. Just my two cents. :TU:
Hi Chris, Sorry to hear you have this problem! I watched one of the videos on stitching and was very impressed with the process. Looks like with you can save what you have, and the repair would not stand out as a blemish. Suggest you compare with replacing the engine to see if it is cost-effective. Are you coming to Hershey this year? John
One trick the local machinist here does is take some glass bead grains and sprinkle them in the wet paint to hide the repair. Then adds another coat of paint. The glass beads mimick the sand cast finish of the block.
