Re: 5.0 Block Cracked!! Replace or Repair??
Re: 5.0 Block Cracked!! Replace or Repair??
but the statement damn near impossibe is misleading. because welding cast manifolds is common and possible, (with marine and automotive) atleast in my neck of the woods.
I agree completely. And no. V8 makes no difference. Years ago I paid to repair a cracked 1988 350 engine block from a Chevy Silverado that had been severely overheated. Had several broken water jackets welded up internally (FWIW the method the shop used was called "furnace welding" Most shops around here these days do NOT furnace weld anymore, but use a "pinning" method...or there's a brand name called lock-n-stitch that is very similar...these are generally considered easier and better repairs than welding on cast parts...if damage is totally external and accessible, the motor doesn't even need to be disassembled or removed from the car or boat),
Back to my story: Then the shop magnafluxed the block to make sure the welds were solid and nothing was missed. The shop then redecked everything nice and flat, then bored it 30 over. I took it home, reassembled with some high torque performance parts, dropped it back into the truck, and used it to tow my boats and snowmobiles for 10 years. It never missed a beat. Sold it in 1998, 75,000 miles later, running strong, to a buddy who owns a landscaping company. 12 years later, he's STILL using it to tow his trailer full of mowers every day of the summer. I have no idea how many miles are on that rebuilt motor now, but when he sees me, he raves that it runs like it does when he bought it.
Here in central Indiana where racing and performance shops are king...such repairs are STILL routinely done. And done well. if my Volvo's $6 JB Weld patch doesn't hold consistently, I may have it done again to my two external cracks...probably $200 to $300 ish, and done in the boat, fully assembled.
It's just the nature of today's throwaway society. People think these repairs are not possible because there aren't many people who know how to do it anymore, and with forum responses like many here there are even less people out there willing to trust those few who DO know how to do it. It's kinda sad. Usually the same people who say it is not possible to get a carb'd engine to run as well as an EFI engine....to which I also say not true...if you know how to PROPERLY tune and jet and setup a carb...rather than just blindly set it to factory specs like 98% of "carb tuners" do...I could go on, but it all falls on deaf ears mostly. Several will tell me I'm wrong and I won't bother to waste my time justifying what I have seen, done, and experienced, and therefore know to be true...
There are lots of dying arts in the mechanical field. Remember radiator shops that FIXED and recored radiators? Remember rebuilding your own generator at home (or later...alternnator)? Remember TV/radio/toaster repair shops? Some of us do. Most mechanics these days are just a combination of computer look-up artist and parts replacer. But many such things CAN be fixed WITHOUT throwing them away...and fixed properly.
Even cast parts.
I encourage those who do not understand the process to google "engine block repair service" and read all about the methods used and the companies who have made careers out of guaranteeing such repairs.
