Salvageable or Not!

R

RobWi

Member
Okay, new to this venue and looking for advice. Have a 46-48 59AB that was buried behind the barn of a neighbor, he gave it to me for free. Thought I would take it apart and find out if it is salvageable. Here is what I found, so far anyway.
A crack in #6 bore that starts about three quarters of an inch below the block deck. Do not know how far it extends past the froze piston which is about halfway down the bore.
So far, there are no detectable cracks anywhere else on the block. Lots of rust though. Not afraid of sleeving the engine, have done it countless times on race engines without a failure due to sleeving.
Would attach pictures, but do not know how.
 

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RobWi said:
Okay, new to this venue and looking for advice. Have a 46-48 59AB that was buried behind the barn of a neighbor, he gave it to me for free. Thought I would take it apart and find out if it is salvageable. Here is what I found, so far anyway.
A crack in #6 bore that starts about three quarters of an inch below the block deck. Do not know how far it extends past the froze piston which is about halfway down the bore.
So far, there are no detectable cracks anywhere else on the block. Lots of rust though. Not afraid of sleeving the engine, have done it countless times on race engines without a failure due to sleeving.
Would attach pictures, but do not know how.
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Not very practical, if you want my opinion. There are too many nicer blocks out there. Way cheaper to get another one.

Karl
 
Hard to tell from just those pics to determine if it’s worth saving. A lot of time and money will be invested before knowing if it’s really any good (pressure test required). I know it’s getting harder and harder to find decent blocks, but I found my second C69A in 2024 for only CAN$250. So far no cracks, but hasn’t been pressure tested. If block is good, I wouldn’t sell it for less than CAN$1,500.
 

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Ziggster said:
Hard to tell from just those pics to determine if it’s worth saving. A lot of time and money will be invested before knowing if it’s really any good (pressure test required). I know it’s getting harder and harder to find decent blocks, but I found my second C69A in 2024 for only CAN$250. So far no cracks, but hasn’t been pressure tested. If block is good, I wouldn’t sell it for less than CAN$1,500.
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Ziggster, Sorry, but that pictured engine is not a C69A! Still a great score though....
 
I definitely would not use it. That surface rust is really bad, not to mention the crack. If a block has been in a backyard there is a good reason for it, I have one laying outside that I had strawberry plants growing in the cylinders. I think I have about 20 of them stored inside. I inspect them really close before I buy them. It's cheaper to pay for a good block than it is to try and straighten out a screwed up one. The problem is when you need a good block you can't find one and when you don't, they are all over the place. I used to buy them when the good ones showed up. I have enough of them to last me the rest of my life.
 
To salvage that cracked cylinder, it would have to be welded, then bored, and then sleeved to save just that part. Thinking the $$$ for that would put you a ways down the road for a good block to begin your project with!!;)
 
Are good blocks really so hard to find? Maybe you need to put some feelers before you invest the time and money into the pictured block. I just wishe you were closer, I'd fix you up real good.
 
Thank you for the replies, much appreciated. Maybe I should tell you a bit about the back story both pertaining to this specific engine and my personal tendencies.
First, this engine was given to me... absolutely no cost. Zilch, zero, nada.
Second, my entire life has been dedicated to doing "what can't be done". When told it is impossible, that is my signal to make it possible.
Third, I ignore any cost entailed to prove my point. Always have, always will.

Back in the seventies, I was given an old Ford FE 427 blown up engine. People laughed, told me it was a boat anchor. it was non repairable, so why bother. The engine had broken the crank and two of the rods separated from their respective pistons. Number 7 rod poked a hole in the cylinder, and number 3 rod wedged between the piston wrist pin boss and the cylinder wall. Both exposed the water jacket.
I rebuilt that engine. It taught me how to use multiple machine shop equipment that a friend allowed me to use after hours. I personally bored all the cylinders and sleeved all eight bores. Found a crankshaft in a junk yard and turned it on an old Wagner engine lathe that had not been used since WWII, also configured a jig to mount the engine block on the ways to line bore the mains. Used another relic machine called a KT H-Bridge to square and deck the block, mill the heads. Used a combination of six different rods to balance the rotating assembly. Mind, that I never had machined anything other than using a grinder or drill press in my life prior, practiced using scrap metal I had laying around. Took me from the end of October until April the next year before firing that engine up.
Nobody laughed, it ran two full seasons and won a championship. Dyno had the power max at 7500 RPM but that engine was twisted at times way north of 8000 RPM.
It is not the cost, it is if it can be done. Can this block be saved, irrelevant of cost?
 
O.K. you asked the question and everybody gave their opinion and said don't use it. Not sure why you asked if you like impossible tasks and have unlimited funds. Get back to us after the job is done and tell us how it went and the cost.
 
RobWi said:
Thank you for the replies, much appreciated. Maybe I should tell you a bit about the back story both pertaining to this specific engine and my personal tendencies.
First, this engine was given to me... absolutely no cost. Zilch, zero, nada.
Second, my entire life has been dedicated to doing "what can't be done". When told it is impossible, that is my signal to make it possible.
Third, I ignore any cost entailed to prove my point. Always have, always will.

Back in the seventies, I was given an old Ford FE 427 blown up engine. People laughed, told me it was a boat anchor. it was non repairable, so why bother. The engine had broken the crank and two of the rods separated from their respective pistons. Number 7 rod poked a hole in the cylinder, and number 3 rod wedged between the piston wrist pin boss and the cylinder wall. Both exposed the water jacket.
I rebuilt that engine. It taught me how to use multiple machine shop equipment that a friend allowed me to use after hours. I personally bored all the cylinders and sleeved all eight bores. Found a crankshaft in a junk yard and turned it on an old Wagner engine lathe that had not been used since WWII, also configured a jig to mount the engine block on the ways to line bore the mains. Used another relic machine called a KT H-Bridge to square and deck the block, mill the heads. Used a combination of six different rods to balance the rotating assembly. Mind, that I never had machined anything other than using a grinder or drill press in my life prior, practiced using scrap metal I had laying around. Took me from the end of October until April the next year before firing that engine up.
Nobody laughed, it ran two full seasons and won a championship. Dyno had the power max at 7500 RPM but that engine was twisted at times way north of 8000 RPM.
It is not the cost, it is if it can be done. Can this block be saved, irrelevant of cost?
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I like a challenge as well. I knew nothing of flatheads when I started my speedster build journey 8 yrs ago. I lucked out with the $100 I paid for it. Was in pcs, and had no idea the difficulty folks typically had in finding a good block. I learned to rebuild my Holley 94s. I learned to rebuild my helmet distributor. I even bought a vintage Allen Syncrograph distributor machine to test it. I built up the short block, repaired the rare truck pan that had been pierced by a forklift, and have built my speedster from scratch including the frame rails.
Continue to dismantle it while checking for other issues/cracks. If the oil pans rails are not cracked, and time and money are no object, then get it re-sleeved where necessary, and stitch any other cracks.
 
I suppose if money is no object you could take a chance and try to "save it", especially since you have access to automotive machine tools.

However, best option is to buy a better block and build the engine you desire.
 
It kind of comes down to what amount of time and money are you willing to throw at it. If you want a challenge and have all the time and $$$ to spend on it . . . it can probably be saved. Heck, it might be fun to go through the process and see the results.

For me it would be "just because I can, should I"? My answer would be "No" - I'll find another block and put a whole lot less time and money into it . . . leaving me more of both to spend on other things.
 
It seems to me, after reading your posts, that what you really enjoy is the challenge, and the bigger the challenge, the better. If that's the case, then go for it.
Let us know how you make out. If it fails in the end, remember the words of Stroker McGurk. "If it don't go, chrome it"
 
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