The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop New person with a 1946 216 block repair question

I am new here I am looking for some information to help possibly repairing my 216 in my 1946 Chevy truck. I came across information that had been tried and had been successfull. The details that I read said find the crack drill holes on each end and use JB weld which I did. It was very accessible I had the sheet metal off prepping for paint. I want my truck to remain box stock. I just wonder if there is a better repair method I did weld the crack preheated it and ran a bead. The weld was extremely difficult due to the impurities in the cast. Then JB weld. I am going to pull the engine and try and make another attempt I was hoping for some old school insight. My truck has 30000 original miles and is well documented.it deserves to have the original motor. The first few hours on my truck showed no signs of a leak. It has been parked since my initial repair but now has developed a leak. Just finished getting all the sheet metal back on the truck now this. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks.

There's a product called Marine Tex that's far superior to JB Weld. It's designed to survive hostile saltwater environments, and it adheres to cast iron very well. Use a small flap wheel sanding disc to smooth out the cast iron for about an inch on both sides of the crack, and don't get too obsessive about making the surface super slick- - - -a few sanding scratches help the repair bond well. Just as the repair begins to harden, press a piece of coarse sandpaper (40 grit) onto the surface of the patch to resemble the texture of the original cast iron. The patch will almost disappear, especially after it's painted. Since the 216 cooling system runs very low pressure (or none at all) a Marine Tex patch is usually leak-free. Good luck!

www.ebay.com/itm/365697020544?

Jerry

Thank you for the information. It’s greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the information I like what it read sounds like a very good approach. I am going to pull the motor so that makes that repair do able. Thanks again much appreciated

Zionranch ... The excellent information you've received comes with a "fee" .... Your fee is this: We want to see pictures of your truck. Many of them.

There is a short tutorial in the column to the left that will walk you through how to post pictures here. The process is not intuitive but its not particularly difficult -- just a little 'splainin and you'll be good to go. Should you encounter any difficulties, just let us know. We'll help ... for more pictures and a write up about your truck

In all seriousness ... should you elect to write up a description about your truck, and your restoration experience, we'd particularly like to know a few things in addition to the usual informational suspects. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

-- What challenges you faced and how you overcame them
-- Why this particular truck -- what drew you to it?
-- How did you find it? How did it find you?
-- What parts of the resto did you enjoy most? What parts did you enjoy least? Why?
-- Did you farm out any of the work? Which parts?
-- Did you have any family members participating?


You can start your own DITY story -- "Just like it sounds, you have the ability to "tell your truck story" here, adding plenty of images to help with the tale. It's an on-going story of your truck that can be added to as it unfolds."

Thanks! And we're glad to have you aboard!
John

As John mentioned, we ‘bolters love not only pictures, but the story that goes with the truck.

Here’s a link to those instructions John mentioned instructions on how to add pictures to a post.

Welcome to the ‘Bolt!

After the dust settles on your block repair, if it still leaks you can use "waterglass," calcium carbonate, I believe, as a stop leak. It does not plug up heater cores or other small passages. The shortcoming of waterglass is that glycol-base antifreeze will render it useless. I don't know about alcohol, which was used before glycol.

I see you're in California, so if it doesn't freeze where you are this might be a solution.

Farm women used to use it to preserve eggs. It seals pores in the egg shell hermetically sealing the egg. They can be used months later without refrigeration. I am old enough to have used it for both purposes.

Actually, water glass is sodium silicate. When Ed Pruss broke down near my farm on his way from Cullman Alabama to Denver in his 503 engine GMC fire truck, I rescued him and kept the truck at my farm for about three months while I fixed a bad alternator, did some badly needed brake work, and fixed a leaky head gasket with water glass. Then I drove the truck to the Kansas City reunion, and Ed flew in and took it home to Colorado. I rode my Honda Gold Wing back to Tennessee, which I had hauled out there on the bed of the truck. When Ed finally pulled the cylinder head, he had quite a time getting it off- - - -the water glass had it glued down tight! No leaks, though!
Jerry

I did this on a 1954 Chevy half ton in about 1973. I had just bought the truck from a guy who lived just west of Ft Worth and drove it home to Hurst, half way between Ft Worth and Dallas, only to learn it was leaking water and over heating. There was a crack in the water jacket. Dumb of me for not checking it over better. Lucky for me a retired big truck mechanic lived next door. I told him what happened and said I'd probably need a new motor. He said no all I needed to do is "lace" up the crack. I figured I had nothing to lose giving it a try. The process was much the same as the above process but much simpler. It was 1973 after all.

Here goes. Clean the crack, then get you some soft steel rod just slightly bigger than the hole you're going to drill. Beginning at either end drill a hole in the crack. Then tap the hole and thread the end of the rod and screw it in cutting it off at the surface. Now the tricky part. Drill the next hole over lapping the first hole a little less than half the rod thickness. Continue that process to the end of the crack. You're done. I ask him wouldn't it still leak? He said yes but only for a few days. By that time rust would seal the crack. He was right. A month later I used the truck to tow my wife's car from Texas to Mass. (I was in the military and had gotten transferred) and it didn't leak. Maybe i was just lucky but it worked.
P.S. when I sold the truck I made sure to point out the repaired crack. It's the only time I ever did it.

What diameter rods are you using, Micky?

Mickey's method is the old school way to patch cracked blocks, known as "sewing". It's been around since the steam engine days. Lock-N-Stitch is just a modernized method of the same procedure. Now there are threaded, tapered cast iron plugs, with corresponding taps to thread the holes. Both are available on Ebay. Drill and tap holes slightly closer to each other than the diameter of the plugs, drill and plug those holes, cut the plug off flush with the block, then drill and tap holes that overlap the previous repair. You end up with a series of "figure 8" repairs that completely fill the crack area. It's a good idea to use LocTite on the plugs as you install them.
Jerry.

www.ebay.com/itm/150905769851?

Welcome to the 'bolt, you are among fellow addicts here.

-Woogeroo

Otto honestly I don't remember, it was so long ago. Would be large enough to get a good bite on both sides of the crack and as Jerry said it is old school.

My father used that threaded plug crack repair method on flathead Ford racing blocks in the late 1940's and early 50s. They would crack across the valve seats and a little way down the cylinder walls. Sew the crack, and then install a new valve seat.
Jerry