Hey BotP, block has cracks too. Drat. I'm gonna go see it friday and see how bad it is. I'm really at a loss now....... I got new pistons and rings on the way from Egge, and a new head and a couple valves and afew other goodies coming from Vintage Power Wagons. Anyone had decent sucsess with a welded block or am I chasing my tail? The machinest sez there are 2 or 3 cracks in the head gasket surface with one from the water jacket to an intake seat. When I asked him if that was where some of the escaping coolant could have been going and his response was "sure, it could have been leaving there". I sure don't want to fix everything up if the block is junk. I can't go to my buddy and find another 230 C.I. flathead sitting under the bench like I might find a more popular motor. Any thoughts?
I have seen block and head repairs done by using tapered cast threaded plugs. You drill your first hole about a 1/4" past where the crack starts to get into some good metal,then overlap each additional hole about half the width of the installed previous plug.Then to finish, extend your last plug about a 1/4" past where the crack ends. It is detailed in Tex Smith Flathead book, and was common to even repair cracks in the valve seat areas as well.Then either grind the heads of the plugs sticking up smooth, or machine if its in an accessible location such as the deck surface. Afterward, as a precaution, you probably would add some brand of block sealer to further help seal areas you might not have detected. Since your engine was running and you know the internals are good with no turned bearings or broken components, fixing the block and head shouldn't be that costly, and you have nothing to loose if it doesn't cure it 100%, but a little time and patience!
