I had a very similar crack in my 270. I took it to get machined and they "stiched" the block. It was a really neat operation.

They drill/tap holes along the crack, spacing them equally with a jig of sorts. they then tap each hole and screw a special screw into the holes. the head of the screw is designed to break off leaving a nub. They then drill out the space between each previously tapped and now filled hole. This drilling will overlap the new screws that were just installed. the new holes are tapped and new screws are installed in these holes. again the heads break off and all that is left to do is to grind down any excess that is left sticking out and you have a "stiched" block.

I was told that this is as strong as the original block due to some special threading of the screws that are installed. They actually pull the two pieces of metal together, or just close the gap caused by the crack.

The guy who did mine showed me how strong this system was by taking 2 pieces of flat stock and butting them up together. he then tapped a hole right down the butt line. Then screwed the special screws in and I could not pull the two peices apart. it was way cool!

Anyway, the process was not extremely expensive. I had my entire block rebuilt and the stiching done for $2200.00. i am not sure what the stiching costed, but I think it was less than $250.00.

Good luck.

Tom

Whats down in the well comes up in the bucket, so watch who's KoolAid you drink.