Vinny P

The best thing you can do is ... Replace it! It is not worth repairing. It will cost more in the long run.

jmherbert

A good used block prepped will less money than what you want to do. They can be had for a few hundred dollars. I will almost certainly guarantee the Corvette owner spent just as much, probably more money repairing the crack than a prepped block would have cost. Keep in mind that he wanted to keep the #'s matching.

Oh, by the way, if you see a crack on the outside, there is almost definately one that is internal as well.

BadDog

I see your point. If you can fix it cheap do so, if not wait and do it right. Nothing to loose in the mean time as long as you don't mind a potential leak. I have seen blocks repaired with JB weld or other types of expoxy. Some times it works and other times it just slow the leak waaaaay down.

I assume this leak is external. Even it weeps a bit it should not be a problem. As far as the risers do replace those. You should be able to find some used or even aftermarket is cheap enough.

Try McMasterCarr.com and search on epoxy. You may ask around which epoxy would be best for cast and the temps it will see. I doubt it would get over 200.

Good luck and let us know how it works out. If you can get out of for 200 bucks and 2 hours labor go for it.

You did mention no oil and water had traded places. If you have an oil or PS cooler check it for leaks. Make sure the impeller housing is OK as well. If you only ran it on the hose it may be possible it has not heat soaked all parts which may have cracked and an internal leak may develop. I might be worth pulling the intake manifold and inspecting inside.

Tim T.

PS Make sure the bilge pump works and you have an operable over temp alarm in case it lets go and spews water.

stevesxm

sir... the one point i think you are missing was that the guy with the corvette had a block that was IRREPLACEABLE. it had the numbers on it that made it an original combination for his car that that was worth probably 20 to 40 k in INTRINSIC value... it had nothing at all to do with the value of the block itself which was probably 400 bucks... believe me he would have absolutely changed it out in a heartbeat were it not for that...

ratman

JB WELD and a good prayer should do it, any good preists near you, have the repaired area blessed for best results

BadDog

This might work.
Super High-Temperature Metal-Filled Epoxy Putties
Seal cracks, holes, and pits in cast aluminum, cast iron, steel, and stainless steel that's exposed to extremely high temperatures. Putties have good resistance to fuel, oil, and solvents. Reach full strength in 24 hours. At full strength putties are machinable and can conduct heat.
Cast Aluminum— Powder and liquid form a ceramic- and aluminum-filled thick putty. Mix ratio is 2:1. Begins to harden at room temperature in 2-4 hours if applied less than 1/8" thick; thicker applications begin to harden with 160° F heat in another 1-2 hours. Color is light gray.
Cast Iron, Steel, and Stainless Steel— These ceramic- and stainless steel-filled one-part putties begin to harden at room temperature in 5-7 hours. If being used at temperatures less than 400° F, they begin to harden in 3 hours in 200° F heat. Color is dark gray. 8-oz. size includes 4 oz. of thinner so you can change the viscosity.
Size Max. Temperature Each

Cast Aluminum
12 oz. 1400° F 7356A32 $27.38

1 1/2 pt. 1400° F 7356A34 60.45

Cast Iron, Steel, and Stainless Steel
8 oz. 2000° F 7356A33 31.36

1 pt. 2000° F 7356A35 60.45


McMasterCarr.com page 3209

MOP

I have healed quite a few cracked blocks over the years, I agree with the above but some do not have the resources to throw at their toys! I will tell you how to go about a fix that does work, take a Dremel tool and find the ends they should be stop drilled. I drill them with a 3/16" bit then tap the hole with a 1/4-20 tap, then put a plain steel bolt in the hole and snug it up. If you boat in salt the rest is easy, all you need to do is run it. After about 4-5 trips the cracks will corrode shut I garentee it. If you are a fresh water guy then you need to desolve rock salt in water and fill the block again after it gets about 4-5 treatments it will corrode shut. When done if it is a fresh water rig flush it with "Salt Away" a few times to get all the brine out. Just this spring I did this to a buddy's Dodge diesel man he was some happy he was looking at a Mega Bill, it holds system pressure with no sign of weepage.

Phil

sonicator

I had a 350/260 that cracked. I took as may of the accessories as I could off ground the crack and area around it to get paint and rust etc off and welded it up. You don't really have much to loose it is no good now and if you can weld it is worth a try. Mine lasted for 10 seasons with no problems. I have also used JB weld to fix a hole in the power steering ram that lasted for 7 years.

Good luck

Gordo

Magnuts,
You've heard some great advice here. I think you were hoping that someone had a miracle cure-quick fix that could be done with little money and time. The fact is, there is no cheap miracle quickfix.
True story...
A friend bought a beautiful 223 Baja Bandit with 454 Mag last year from Oklahoma. When he was buying it he called me while he was on the test ride. He saw water leaking out of the engine. The owner stated he thought it was an exhaust manifold gasket leaking.
I told him if it was indeed leaking at the exhaust manifold it was probably cracked. I just happened to have a few pair in my shop so he worked the owner for a "little" better deal and brought the boat home.
For fun I put the boat on a hose to see for myself what was leaking. It wasn't the exhaust manifold, it was a 4" crack in the block.
I first tried the JB Weld. It worked for two days. I then took a die grinder and made a groove along the crack, wire brushed the complete area, warmed the side of the block with a heat gun, then applied JB Weld again, pushing as much as I could into the groove. This time it made it almost 3 weeks before leaking again. We went on to try epoxy, alumaweld, and other glue-alls. I am now shopping for a used big-block, but price was holding my friend back. We then removed the engine, tore it apart, and shipped it to some old guy in Wichita Kansas who somehow drilled and welded it. It was shipped back, Re-assembled and re-installed. It's holding so far.
Bottom line, when all was said and done we should have just bought a new block and swapped parts. He would have spent about the same money and had fresh reliable power. It was not a good overall experience for my friend.
Chances are I'm not the only boat mechanic that has gone through the same trial/error experience. You asked what could be done, we're just giving you our best advice based on our experience. Take it and use it at will with the best of luck.

BTW, If I ever meet the original Baja owner,
I'll kick his arse myself.

MAGNUTS

THANK'S A BUNCH....OSO GUYS. I'm going to try Bars Leak and/or Iron Seal for the posibility of an internal wall crack...then J&B for the outside visible crack....and see what happens.

An offshore boat repair shop owner nearby said...that he used this method on a few ocasions and it worked perfectly. He also said that freinds of his WITH RACE ENGINES... did it too, and it worked. I'll let you know tomorow what the results are.

Stay tuned...don't change the station...have a drink...and when you go to bed tonight...think about me. And if you don't...than think about my girlfreind...she's 5'0" tall.....
blue eyes with strawberry blond hair...weighs 100 # soacking wet...is a stripper...34"24"34" and a nymhpomaniac.

But..don't loose any sleep over it. Just Tell your wife I said Hi..AND STOP CALLING ME...my wife's getting suspicious.