[Cape Cod Bob]

Have a chance to buy a 71 350 chevy eng. complete. Owner says a crack at one of the m/m bolt hole bosses. Says motor running well when pulled in Dec. and was rebuilt with about 3K on it. Says looks more like a chip out of the boss. One previous buyer returned it after remoning M/M and seeing crack. Ihave not seen it yet and he will try to e-mail me a picture to save me a trip.
Has anyone run into this before . Can I have it brazed or if it is just a chip should I be concerned.
Only asking $250 for motor.
ANY input will be much appreciated. Is going in a '31 chevy restorat.

[RPM]

If it is just a hunk broke out it will probbly be fine. If it is a big crack well that could be a different story. Need to see a picture really.

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by Cape Cod Bob

Have a chance to buy a 71 350 chevy eng. complete. Owner says a crack at one of the m/m bolt hole bosses. Says motor running well when pulled in Dec. and was rebuilt with about 3K on it. Says looks more like a chip out of the boss. One previous buyer returned it after remoning M/M and seeing crack. Ihave not seen it yet and he will try to e-mail me a picture to save me a trip.
Has anyone run into this before . Can I have it brazed or if it is just a chip should I be concerned.
Only asking $250 for motor.
ANY input will be much appreciated. Is going in a '31 chevy restorat.

I'd have to see it but for $250 just to get the low mileage internals would be a good deal even if you had to replace the block.

This sounds like the engine was hard mounted and the dimensions were wrong. Thus either when the bolts were pulled tight or chassis movement pulling on the bolts busted the nipple and or cracked the block.

If this is cracked or broken thru, this is a water jacket and at some point the crack will leak and or grow. It might be possible to do the old fashion fix of drilling an end hole in the crack and threading the hole, then a bolt is threaded in and ground smooth. Then another hole is drilled and tapped overlapping the first bolt and another bolt put in and ground smooth. This process is repeated till you get to the end of the crack. Welding cast iron is a most unsuccessful practice usually resulting in more cracks.

Bogie

[F&J]

Lets say a chunk was broken off preventing the bolt from working. If you drilled & tapped deeper for use with a longer bolt....would that help? You'd have 2 perfect bolts and one close to good?

[Chevrolet4x4s]

Originally Posted by oldbogie

.... Welding cast iron is a most unsuccessful practice usually resulting in more cracks.

Bogie

I never saw why its so hard..........heat it up with a torch weld it with a cast rod hit it with a torch again and pour dry cement or sand on it and let it cool sloooowwlyyyyyyyyyy.
Shane