Dead Block?

[Bradley]

I took the block to be cleaned and primed and was told it's dead. It looks as though the manifold side has cracked a few times and been repaired. You can see the repair in the first picture in the intake passage way and the pencil weld to the left of the aft manifold bolt.

Second pic, There much rust and a hole in the exhaust ports to the left of the center manifold bolt. It looks like salt water has come up into the passage way.

This explains why that valve always sticks. The valve guide is rusty as well.

The machine shop says it's a paper weight, but they do not do iron welding. Any second opinions?

[Shriveguy]

I think she's a gonner

Hi Bradley -
By the looks of the pictures your mechanic is right.

The skinny on cast iron "welding" is that it is not like convnetional eletrical or gas welding at all. The process invovles baking the entire part to get it to around 1300 degrees and fusing the broken or cracked parts. Most conventional welding process simply ruin cast iron becasue the process overheats a small area and causes it to be brittle, which casues failure down the road. Your pictures illustrate that clearly around the previously repaired areas.

Proper cast iron repair can be done, but the process is very expensive and there are only a handful of people that even know how to do it. In the end I think you would be better off buying a used block that is in better shape than the one you have.

Check out the classified section here on the forum, I have seen some used engines and even some blocks there. Also, Moyer marine offers a really great deal on a complete short block. If the rest of your engine is o.k. this may be something that would suite you.

If you do find a used block, look at the head bolts where the go in to the block. There should be at least three thread showing on the bottom of the bolt to indicate that the block you are looking at is not rotten and is salvageable.

Good Luck
James Shriver