Block availability

len said:
I have a standard 8cm block with heads no internals. It has been magnafluxed 2 minor cracks no problem. $500.
brewer_l@sbcglobal.net calif. 530-401-8660.
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Define "minor cracks" please. The common ones between the bolt hole and water passage between the end cylinders; (the ever popular "part number cracks"?). Or something else? Makes a big difference.
 
Tod said:
Trying to clear out the pipeline. It has been a real war trying to get things done lately. I haven't stopped, just slowed more than I like. I had other stuff in the works first that is just getting about out of the way. I think about this every day because I have a stock block sitting right next to my desk.

Tod
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Tod - Good to see you're still on this. Thanks for replying.
 
I don't know about you guys, but I seem to see more cracking issues with later 49-53 blocks than I do with the earlier blocks???

This is not a scientific or statistical analysis, just an observation. What have other experienced builders seen?
 
Bored&Stroked said:
I don't know about you guys, but I seem to see more cracking issues with later 49-53 blocks than I do with the earlier blocks???

This is not a scientific or statistical analysis, just an observation. What have other experienced builders seen?
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Hi Dale, you need to keep things in perspective, we may see 10 8BA blocks in here for work, in the same time frame we may only see 1 of the 59's. it's just the way it is!

I have 5 8BA's in here now and 1 59A. With that ratio finding a higher number of the later blocks cracked is the "norm". Of the 8BA's 2 are cracked and the 59A is fine!

(Add) ALL these Flathead blocks MUST be pressure-tested, "magging" alone is NOT good enough to stand behind a casting or build.

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. The problem with "flipping" good bare blocks (without doing a complete build) from a business standpoint could mean the difference between do that entire build or being idle!!
 
I, for one, have been very lucky with 8BA blocks. I have been through seven over the last 20 years and 6 of them were crack free. Four of these engines came out of running vehicles that had other problems, and two came out of pickups many years ago. The only one that may have been cracked was sold several years ago when I realized I would never get around to using it, and a guy made me the proverbial "offer I couldn't refuse".

I think the fact that all of these engines were either in use or stored inside has a lot to do with it. If they had obviously cracked blocks and all of the attendant symptoms, the entire vehicles probably would have been scrapped. In the case of the people usually save only good running engines. Except for the one case (which was free), I stay far away from engines that don't run or have been sitting out side for any length of time.

Or maybe I'm just lucky.
 
Can someone describe the process for pressure testing a block? Are we talking about a block that has been torn down or can the motor be left in the car? Trying to learn here.
Thanks
Bob
 
For 8BA's at least, I have developed a procedure that allows preliminary checking of a block while it is still in the car. Basically, it allows you to find the real "losers" easily. After that, it takes more and more effort to find out what's going on. When I go to my shop tomorrow, I'll take some pictures of the stuff I have developed and post them. I have been able to detect good blocks in cars, but it takes some effort and a bunch of "Mickey Mousing" around, involving, of all things, kid's balloons from the variety store.
 
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tubman said:
For 8BA's at least, I have developed a procedure that allows preliminary checking of a block while it is still in the car. Basically, it allows you to find the real "losers" easily. After that, it takes more and more effort to find out what's going on. When I go to my shop tomorrow, I'll take some pictures of the stuff I have developed and post them. I have been able to detect good blocks in cars, but it takes some effort and a bunch of "Mickey Mousing" around, involving, of all thins, kid's balloons from the variety store..
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Are the balloons on gutted spark plugs so you know which cylinder has the crack?
 
fordor said:
Can someone describe the process for pressure testing a block? Are we talking about a block that has been torn down or can the motor be left in the car? Trying to learn here.
Thanks
Bob
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All my test are with a bare block.
 
Is it a case of everyone expects crack free blocks or does anyone repair them, stitch and sleeve etc? Or it a case that they are just not "rare" enough to warrant the cost?
 
It´s a balance between cost and saving a block.
Sleeving is a double boring plus the $20 for the sleeve.
Putting in a few crackpins is fine but when you have to do it in the valvepockets it takes time...and if you have to repair multiple valvepockets it adds up fast.
I have the tooling to sleeve the valvepockets somewhere in the dark hideaways...back in the days they had a solution for most issues...and with cheaper labor they could put some hours into an engine without breaking the bank.
 
Here's what I made to do preliminary pressure testing of 8BA blocks. The unit with the gauge bolts on to the head outlet and allows air pressure to be introduced into the water passages. If the engine is out of the car, a water pump can be removed and the plate installed over the opening. For engines still in the car, I have a vinyl cap that fits over the water pump outlet in place of the lower radiator hose. If you're lucky, the seals on the water pump will be good enough for this to work. And "GB", you are correct that the balloon goes on a gutted spark plug that is screwed into the cylinder head. I was surprised at how sensitive these balloons are; it doesn't take much to get them "excited". This is no substitute for "real" block checking, but it allows "wheat to be separated from the chaff" quite easily with "field find" engines. (I'm sure a version could be made for center outlet type engines with a short piece of radiator hose and a slug of aluminum.)
 

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"You can have 10 blocks you think are fine, but after proper testing, 90% of them will turn out to be cracked, at least in my experience."

Not sure how accurate that is, but even if half are cracked ...

Let's say I have a block (which I do and that I don't need) and want to sell it (presumably to someone who DOES need it.) Complete testing here would run $400.

So, I have it tested and risk $400 so that I can maybe sell it for, maybe, $800 (which I doubt.) I could lose $400 facing unfavorable odds and a cracked block. If the block is crack-free, the buyer gets the engine at a fair market price. He never faces the risk of ending up in the hole with nothing to show for it but a shop receipt.

Am I missing something?

Now, if I have a complete 8BA (which I do) that came out of a really nice restored car into which the new owner simply wanted to install a SBC, I cannot have it tested as a complete engine. According to a bunch of guys here, it's darned near worthless. (One potential buyer even asked if I had the build sheet for the engine ... )

As a buyer, I wouldn't mind paying more for a block that was already tested and guaranteed to be crack-free.

As a seller, I'm better off letting the stuff sit in my shop and thinking some day I may use it.

We can think about that and how it may be affecting availability.
 
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Hoop said:
Am I missing something?
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Nope, I think you've got it.

I haven't pursued any 'spare' blocks beyond what I need because of the odds, and I wouldn't test one before selling, I'd rather sell it for $200 and let the buyer do the gambling. I tested one that was disassembled, cleaned and bored, was told it was ready to assemble. It turned out to be badly cracked too. Something really rare and valuable like a '32 or 36LB would be the exception to that. Maybe.
 
We need to repair most of these blocks in my humble opinion. That is if they are otherwise in rebuildable condition.

If a fella doesn't want to do that the blocks need not be scrapped I don't think because I believe that new technologies are in place to repair the formerly unrepairable casting.

I'm referring to PTWA or spray welding. I believe this can be done to cast iron.

Now that this subject has been raised again I'm going to look into this and get the real possibilities for this technology as it applies to our hobby.

I have three 59A blocks that are cracked in various places. I got them for free. I. believe 2 out of 3 I can repair with my "Lock & Stitch" materials.

I figure the number of Flathead blocks in the world can only go down through attrition so I best sit on everything and wait for technology to make the marginal ones viable again.
 
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