Could not agree more Dave! Access to the motor is too good to pass up now. This is the kind of problem that will come back to haunt you years down the road. Chris
Just hit with a welding needle scaler. Nothing to hide.You will get a finished cast repair that when painted you can't see it.:grin: Bin there done that. Wilber
I always thought it was a lower block coolant drain. I have not tried to remove it, I'm sure it wont budge after 50 years in place. Not sure how close the crack is to the drain. I am really leaning towards the lock-n-stitch method of repair. Looks like this will be a winter project. Chris ---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 PM ---------- Looks good Wilbur. Was was that you repaired? Chris
Hi Chris, I can't tell from the photo, but if it is a drain plug it will most likely come out easily. If it was mine I would want to be flushing the engine and take it from there--live with it, or stitch repair. John
Hey John: In 2004 when I had the body off and restored the chassis, I had all the removed all the bottom side freeze plugs and flushed 40 years worth of crap out of both sides of the motor. I found good size pieces of old freeze plugs inside the block along with about a pound of rust. I just don't ever remember seeing the crack- or I chose to ignore it! I am almost 100% certain I will be going with the stitch. Chris
Best of luck with the stitch; - I had a 66 block that was stitched, brazed and "defcon-ed" and still leaked because the welder got tired of chasing cracks and ignored a few. There are a few members here who have good blocks reasonably cheap, and since you're in the US shipping is cheaper, something you may want to investigate before you take the risk and spend money on a stitch job. Question is, is matching numbers or reliability more important to you?
Once you weld them there is no going back.If it cracks again you can't stitch it as the cast at the weld edge has become to hard to drill or tap that is a one way street.The weld in the middle of a block is a very detailed repair and many welders don't want that job,as they have been bitten before just as you state.Also to add insult to injury not all castings have the same welding properties and can be a nightmare to repair.Welds on the corners and edges are more forgiving as compared to a weld in the picture location not near the edge or corner,the heating and cooling is a great stress on the casting and requires a controlled amount of pre heat and controlled cooling to keep the stresses in order.Yes many castings have been repaired by welding it has been done.Just not by any welder.Sounds like your choice of welder didn't work out to well for you.The original post picture appears to be a good candidate for stitching. I also have been tig welding for 25 years plus.My first choice on that one would be stitching but to each his own. That's my 2 W
All too true; I just had the unfortunate luck of buying the car not knowing there was a foot-long crack in the block. The previous owner did a wonderful job of covering it up with muck and paint, so it wasn't visible until I took the block out for rebuilding. I had always been told that cast iron was next to impossible to fix cracks in, it would either fail completely or develop new cracks as the old ones were being filled in. Add to that the fact that Buick used a higher nickel content in their blocks for better strength and heat disappation and you've got a pretty tough weld or stitch going. I don't have the experience with welding you have, nor do I pretend to, so I can't say which would be a better option. You may well be right, and it'll take and it'll never be a problem again. You have the welder, people like me don't, so we're either paying for the block or the welder. Either way, it probably will end out costing the same, 3 or 4 hundred bucks for either a block or the time. So my experience is to just replace it and be done with it, as opposed to having to constantly worry about that crack possibly openning up again on some parade or something, so it's like you said, to each his own...:beer
I cleaned it up and looked a little bit closer at the path of the crack this past weekend. It measures around 6" long. The crack does not go straight over the 1/4 raised "boss". It shoots off to the bottom, then back up. If it went straight up and over the raised boss, I would say that the stitching would work well. You would almost have to completely grind off the raised area to chase the crack. Not good. I'm now thinking replacement. I took better pictures:
If it were me I would stitch it & just be done with it. If stitching can be done in a high heat/pressure area like the cumbustion chamber in a head & hold up well for years I don't see any reason NOT to stitch in a much lower heat/pressure area on the side of the block. If you want to be absoletly sure it won't leak just fill the bottom of the block with epoxy to the bottom of the big freeze plugs. This has worked well for MANY others for MANY years. Tom T.
Just concerned that the crack is not on a 90 degree angle, Hard to see in the pics. The crack is on a 45 degree angle. Most of the repair videos I have watched are repairing a nice clean, split that is on a 90 degree angle. When drilled into for a stitch repair, all of the damaged cracked area is drilled out. If I drilled on a 90 degree angle into the damaged area of my block, I would not be removing the cracked, damaged areas. About how thick is the block in this area? Chris
You just follow the profile of the surface the pins don't have to go in 90 to each other they only overlap each other. Another product http://www.silver-seal.com/product/CFK100/Cold-Fusion-Crack-Repair-Kit.html http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/2442/whatx2019s_hot_in_cold_crack_repairs.aspx http://www.angelfire.com/biz/seallock/copy_of_index.html Silver seal have a good tech dept call them for the PDF its not rocket science.I have used silver seal on blocks and heads. Go to your local mach shop and see what they use.The pins only have to over lap a small amount to give e a seal.Once you see that it is easy. W
More info http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/...pp_1203_cast_iron_cylinder_head_crack_repair/ http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/dodge_rebuild/part6_cylinderhead.htm http://www.ahmperformance.com/crackrepair.html This should relieve any doubts about stitching. I hope this helps. If I was close I would do it for you . W
Chris, Sorry to hear about the cracked block, you have been working on the Cat for a long time. I wish you were closer to me as I have a friend that has a complete 66 M code 401. Completely rebuilt with all new parts from carb to pan. He has the tranny also and over $4-5K in it. He was going to put in in a 66 Skylark convert. But age and medical problems and the problem of putting in the Skylark has forced him to sell. He would take a reasonable offer for all.. Gary
Thanks Gary! I'm still in a holding pattern for now. I am going to try to pull the motor sometime later this year. I have to get the motor out to get a better look at it. Chris
