Oooh, this may be bad. Waterjacket Corrosion

[The Garbone]

The only corrosion evident on my motor is at the waterjacket cover plate and just below behind the starter.

Is she too far gone?

Removed the starter, accessory pulley and waterjacket cover. Now I know why those bolts came out so easy. The opening is all corroded.



Here she is before I cleaned her up with a rubber mallet and a screw driver.



Here she is after,

I think I need to order at least 2 of the repair kits with the backing plates. I may just put 4 in.

I was thinking that I could use the spinning wire brush followed with an angle grinder to clean her up and then rebuild with JB weld and smoothing with a sander.

It this possible? Suggestions welcome.

It appears the motor had a continuous weep (open seacock?) from this one spot on the cover.

[Loki9]

That rust looks pretty extreme to me. I'd find another block if it was my boat.

[hanleyclifford]

IIRC your block has already passed a cooling jacket pressure test so if that is the only issue you have a shot at fixing it with JB Weld. Recently I fixed the innards of an exchanger with JB Weld and it is holding thus far. By this time I trust you are good with the idea of FWC. Larger pictures would be more helpful if possible.

[sastanley]

hanley...now that rust blobs are removed, I would suspect we'd need to recommend another pressure test after stud kits and a new plate are in place, no? It seems any previous tests are null & void with significant material removed from the mating surfaces.

edit - I am 100% for saving any block possible. The water jacket side plate on my boat is not near as bad as this one appears, however, I really think that the next time I take my side plate off, I will likely have something similar to these pics and need a new block. That is still a cheaper option than a new motor, so it is something I keep in the back of my mind...MUCH eased by the fact that Moyer casts blocks now..even if they may be more $$ than a used engine/block.

Garbone..not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I agree with Loki...just throwing in my $0.02 from a couple of internet pics.

[hanleyclifford]

If the block passed a pressure test before then that means the cylinders are sound and perhaps the pressure was being held by the rusty mess we see. OK; but repair of the side plate area must hold pressure as Shawn suggests. My point was that if the cylinders are sound just about anything else can be re-constructed (short of a block split all the way along).

[jpian0923]

+1 for Hanley. Also, you've got spark. With all the work you've done so far I think you should keep going. Depends on your time and money tolerance too though.

Also, If you're having fun, keep going.

[ndutton]

What works in your favor is the sideplate holds virtually zero pressure. Even if you go with FWC the cap can be modified to very low or no pressure. I'm not a big fan of JB Weld repairs but if there were ever a place for it . . . .

Be sure to address the alternator arm bracket either with the welded plate or at least the improved two-bolt bracket. And another 'if ever': If there were ever a candidate for the belt tensioner product, you're it. You want as little stress on the sideplate fasteners as possible after the repair. The tensioner does just that.

[sastanley]

+1 on all the comments above...very sound advice.

[The Garbone]

May as well try and salvage this thing. I can hardly make it much worse at this point.

I now have a tensioner on my list...

Anyone have any experience with the JB Weld Steelstik putty product? It appears it may be easier to form than the traditional JB weld Epoxy that I have used in the past.

Here is a rough outline of my plan.

Clean the surface to bare metal with my angle grinder. If enough metal remains to hold the backing plates and repair studs in place I can then go forward with the JB Weld fix.

Put repair studs in place with the thread on the rear studs covered with a cut drinking straw and the backing plate with painters tape to allow later removal. Verify allignment with new cover plate.

Use JB Weld putty or looser 2 part epoxy and do the area around the rear studs.

Repeat, working my way forward one stud location at a time.

Remove repair studs and backing plates and then sand surface flat to allow good water seal.

JB Weld all studs and backing plates into place. Repair complete.


Comments? Am I missing a step?

[gregsails]

As a guy who spent years in epoxy industry, this is repairable with the right products and knowledge. Look up either Devcon or Belzona. I use to use a machinable product that was meant for this type of situation. I used the product to repair split case turbines in Nuclear Power Plants. So, it is tested and does work.
The only tough part of this is you need to get to white metal by sand blasting the substraight.If you want a good result, there is no shortcut.
Both these manufacturers can give you step by step to make it work.But all of it is repairable.
Greg

[hanleyclifford]

Blasting is probably not an option for you though it is first prize. Second prize (which will work) is to clean mechanically as best you can and then etch with muriatic acid. Be careful of your skin and eyes; the stuff is nasty. Proceed with JB.

[JOHN COOKSON]

The enlarged holes and severe rust\corrosion makes me think there has been some dissimilar metal electrolysis going on.

TRUE GRIT

[HalcyonS]

> As a guy who spent years in epoxy industry, this is repairable with the right products and knowledge. Look up either Devcon or Belzona. I use to use a machinable product that was meant for this type of situation. I used the product to repair split case turbines in Nuclear Power Plants. So, it is tested and does work.

Nuclear Power Plants ! well maybe, but not for mission critical applications like my old 4banger

Seriously though - I've been wondering about 'epoxy' - all sorts of things get called that if they have two mixable parts, but what is it really and what makes one temp resistant machinable etc...

[HalcyonS]

>The only tough part of this is you need to get to white metal by sand blasting

angle grinder, or die grinder with burr would so as well, wouldn't it, and give plenty of 'tooth'. (I like my die grinder Mind you, a right angle attachment might be helpful here. Or better a Fordham flexible drive tool.

[The Garbone]

Muriatic Acid, would that be the same as what we will be using to prep our bottom before putting our ablative paint on?

Belzona seems to be beyond my budget and a bit hard to get. I think I Caterpillar sells it but it does not seem readily available.

Devcon offers a lot of options. I am looking at this possibly.

http://amzn.com/B004F7QAKS

One interesting thing I learned when reading about Devcon is you can use shoe polish as a release agent on metal parts. I could cover the threads with a straw and put polish on the bar.

Or I may just go with JB Weld. They have high heat putty.

http://amzn.com/B007PP26RI

Its all pretty interesting....