Stitching is a good repair for areas under compression/combustion pressure like a combustion chamber. I've done numerous fixes of cracks between valve seats, etc. that way. On these oldtimers with low-pressure cooling systems, a well-bonded epoxy patch is usually sufficient to handle a crack to the outside of the block with nothing but coolant to contain.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!