502 cracked block repair?
06-28-2011, 01:07 PM
#12
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That's true... If only it stopped at the cost of the block.
Add in the cost of teardown and reassembly by someone competent, cleaning of parts, rings, bearings, gaskets... at the very least. Unless you're going to tear it all down and re-use the old suff... which is probably a bad idea. Pinning can be done with almost no disassembly of the engine, other than possibly some external components to gain access to the area.
Of course, if it's not getting water in the oil, you could always run it the way it is and let it leak water into the bilge, or smear some JB weld on it and call it a day... I've seen both done before. Might not be the perfect scenario, but the price is right...
Add in the cost of teardown and reassembly by someone competent, cleaning of parts, rings, bearings, gaskets... at the very least. Unless you're going to tear it all down and re-use the old suff... which is probably a bad idea. Pinning can be done with almost no disassembly of the engine, other than possibly some external components to gain access to the area.
Of course, if it's not getting water in the oil, you could always run it the way it is and let it leak water into the bilge, or smear some JB weld on it and call it a day... I've seen both done before. Might not be the perfect scenario, but the price is right...
Not to mention trying to find a good used 502 block can be a daunting task at best.
Probably best to try to fix it right. A buddy of mine certified ASE guy was just telling me over the weekend that the lock n stitxh method is what Ford used on blocks they had cracked under warranty.
06-28-2011, 01:11 PM
#13
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I have had chances to use JB weld on industrial diesel engines with some success. you must use the slow dry JB. drill a small hole at each end of the crack and use a grinding stone to vee-out the crack then rough up the area around crack, then clean with lacquer thinner. when applying the epoxy be generous with the mill thickness of the epoxy. then put a heat lamp on the repair. give at least 72hrs to cure. some racers use epoxy on cylinder heads when they strike water when porting. sbc heads it is easy to grind into the valve cover bolt holes. my 2cents
06-28-2011, 01:43 PM
#14
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as long as you can get to both ends of the crack, drill a small hole at each end, grind the area back from both sides of the crack, take a dremil tool then grind a V in the crack itself, use jb weld, will work fine..repaired them before with no issues..
06-28-2011, 02:02 PM
#15
you mentioned that the water jacket on that side was still full of water. Have you pressure checked the cooling system to see if it is actually leaking at the crack? I had a 4.3 in a boat once that I swore had a cracked block, but on closer inspection it turned out to simply be a casting flaw. It even looked like it had some rusty water streaks coming out of it, but that was left over from draining the petcock over the years. I would at least pressurize it with air to see if you have any leaks, and where they are coming from. If it is from freeze damage, it is also common for the water jackets in the lifter valley to crack as well, and you wouldn't see that without pulling the intake. You may be able to hear it leaking from there if it is cracked, however.
I looked at the site for lock n' stitch, and they do some amazing repairs with that method. The OMC block that had a huge chunk cracked out of it surprised me. I would have thought that block was junk for sure.
I looked at the site for lock n' stitch, and they do some amazing repairs with that method. The OMC block that had a huge chunk cracked out of it surprised me. I would have thought that block was junk for sure.
