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383 at the machine shop - cracked?

wasco

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I stopped at the machine shop to drop off the new heads, cam, lifters, pushrods, head gaskets and timing set. The owner asked if I wanted to the see the block (they'd since stripped it down and did the magnaflux). I said I would and it was sitting on a stand, upside down. He casually pointed to the side of the block and said "there's the crack we found". I was surprised - I guess he thought someone had told me. It was about an inch and a half long and right in the middle of the side of the block. He said it was in the water jacket and cracks like it were common with the Mopar blocks - "it doesn't take much of a freeze". He didn't seem concerned at all, said they would drill a hole at each end of the crack and put pins in to stop it from spreading. He's been building engines for 35 years and knows what he's doing, but I'm a little concerned with spending thousands of dollars rebuilding a block that is going 60 over and has one (known) crack? It's not like I'm going to punish this engine - just a little "spirited" street cruising, but what's the general opinion here? When I asked if I should get another block, he shook his head and said "you won't find another one." When I said I'd found one in the midwest for $600 shipped, which happens to be an HP block cast a few weeks before the build date of my car, he seemed surprised but didn't say I should get it. I don't want to spend another $600 if I don't have to, and the Keith Black 60 over pistons he custom ordered to match the Edelbrock heads would have to be returned, but I have a nagging feeling about using a cracked block, but maybe this is common practice? Thoughts?
 
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Guy sounds like know what he's doing found the crack. That repair is common should last. MO.
 
Pin stitching the block is a tried and true practice................

 
I have a 440 with a cracked block for my spare engine. I ground out and filled the crack with JB Weld 15-20 years ago and have used the engine a couple of times over that time period with no problems.
Mike
 
$600 bucks sounds like cheap insurance to me. If it were me I would opt out for a replacement block. The block you have can be repaired reliably but in the end you still have a cracked/repaired block your sinking thousands of dollars into. 383's ain't all that hard to find if your not concerned with production dates, Ma Mopar made a **** load of them just gotta do some looking....IMO
 
I have an AAQA block bored .020 over ..537hp 570 ft lb on dyno ...thrashed hard. I had a vertical crack on both sides of the block that were welded 25 yrs ago, cant see either repairs. No problems here, its finding a competent machinist to fix. You should be fine with fixing yours.
Now if you said horizontal crack, I would be a little leary, due to pulling force of heads bolting down, and the equivalent of 8 grenades going off wanting to pull at repair.
 
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Pin stitching the block is a tried and true practice................



Yes, but Lock-N-Stitch is vastly different than regular crack repair pins. Regular pins are tapered and spread the crack further apart, while Lock-N-Stitch pulls the crack together.
 
I have fixed a few marine blocks in the boat without taking them out by grinding a weld-prep on the crack
and T.I.G. welding with Eutectic Castolin TigTectic 224 filler rod. You don't need to pre-heat the block, and
it is a specialty rod engineered for this purpose. The only thing that bothers me is that you are building a +0.060
engine. I would get another block with some life in it and build that and sell the cracked block, but that's just me!
By the way, fixing the crack should NOT cost a fortune. Good luck with whatever you do!
 
Is the $600 block in the midwest already magna fluxed and guaranteed to be good? And are you sure you can get it to Washington without any damage to it? If you can answer 'yes' to both questions then I agree with @68Moparmaniac that it's money well spent as good insurance for your build. MO
 
I use the "Lock-N-Stitch" product all of the time, and have not had any issues. Hell, I even fixed the rear of a slant six just below the head, and it was super thin there. The longest crack I repaired was 17", a GM 235 that was split stem to stern. The customer didn't want a new block, so he asked me to fix it. An inch and a half crack in the middle of the side would be easy to repair, and wouldn't cost anywhere near the other block you mention. Fix the one you already have and don't worry about it.

IMG_9234.JPG IMG_9260.JPG IMG_9261.JPG
 
Yes, but Lock-N-Stitch is vastly different than regular crack repair pins. Regular pins are tapered and spread the crack further apart, while Lock-N-Stitch pulls the crack together.
I disagree in that the Lock-N-Stitch method does not pull the the crack together.
 
Have it stitched with the screw in plugs like Lilcuda said if your going to have it done ,works great . I can't believe you can' t find a 383 block cheaper than 600 Mopar made like 20 million of them.
myself I would run a wanted ad on crap list , some thing will turn up. and bore that to .060 over , keep the parts you got.
 
If It were me and I had a choice of a few blocks I had, I would use the best one I had that was not cracked. But if all I had was your block I would fix the crack in any of a number of ways, doing that stich repair included. It will be fine. But I cant believe you cant find a block closer to home, someone has a 383 laying around......
 
I've JB Welded a couple big blocks. One was done around 1996 and its still running strong with no problems The other is a 493 stroker with zero problems. Ruffcut
 
I stopped at the machine shop to drop off the new heads, cam, lifters, pushrods, head gaskets and timing set. The owner asked if I wanted to the see the block (they'd since stripped it down and did the magnaflux). I said I would and it was sitting on a stand, upside down. He casually pointed to the side of the block and said "there's the crack we found". I was surprised - I guess he thought someone had told me. It was about an inch and a half long and right in the middle of the side of the block. He said it was in the water jacket and cracks like it were common with the Mopar blocks - "it doesn't take much of a freeze". He didn't seem concerned at all, said they would drill a hole at each end of the crack and put pins in to stop it from spreading. He's been building engines for 35 years and knows what he's doing, but I'm a little concerned with spending thousands of dollars rebuilding a block that is going 60 over and has one (known) crack? It's not like I'm going to punish this engine - just a little "spirited" street cruising, but what's the general opinion here? When I asked if I should get another block, he shook his head and said "you won't find another one." When I said I'd found one in the midwest for $600 shipped, which happens to be an HP block cast a few weeks before the build date of my car, he seemed surprised but didn't say I should get it. I don't want to spend another $600 if I don't have to, and the Keith Black 60 over pistons he custom ordered to match the Edelbrock heads would have to be returned, but I have a nagging feeling about using a cracked block, but maybe this is common practice? Thoughts?[/Q

i have had this done to a 440 that have had missed the freeze point the shop drilled and ground the crack and pined it . i ran the engine for 7 years then sold to a friend with a super bird and it is still leak free




i have had this done to a 440 that have had missed the freeze point the shop drilled and ground the crack and pined it . i ran the engine for 7 years then sold to a friend with a super bird and it is still leak free
 
Did my first "stitch" repair on the inside of the lifter valley of a rebuilt, running in the car, 390 ferd. Stopped the antifreeze leakage. Wouldn't worry at all about doing it on the outside of a block.
 
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