Filled block?

[Coloradomoparman]

Hey guys I have a filled hemi block, I would like to build into a street motor, is there any way to remove the fill from the water jackets? It appears to be an clear maybe acrylic looking fill like glass, it shows some signs of shrinkage and is hard and brittle, is there. Product or procedure to remove such a product?, or am I wasting my time and trade this thing off?

 

[garrett1308]

Never dealt with a filled block before, but if it were me, I'd try some acetone to see if it eats through it.

 

[Photon440]

Is it filled all the way or just the bottom half? You can still get decent cooling if the top half gets water in the jackets.

 

[NOSTRT980]

in my block it looks more like cement, not sure you can dissolve cement.

 

[Superb Bee]

I would send it to a machine shop and have it checked out (have them check the deck heaight and bottom end for cracks), I got a great deal on a pair of hemi motors, 1 was running 1 was locked up. I paid $4800 for both motors. happy day.

They both had embeco 883 in them which is most likely what you have, bad news is it is there for ever.

Good news, its not the end of the world.

I built them both, 1 was decked which sucked because it needed a little more work to get together (most old race blocks are cut), but I used aluminum heads that I had machined with little bleed holes in the rear, meziere reverse flow water pumps, water wetter, and oil coolers, in the 68 rr, I piped the oil through the radiator and through an external oil cooler with its own fan since it was a 4 speed car.

I ended up into the motors for around $5000 each, and I was happy. Never had heat problems. Only issues were bleeding them that sucked, and the decked motor was a bitch but nothing that couldn't be dealt with...

good luck, first step run it by a machine shop and have it checked out.

Also I ran a transparent coolant filter (I think champion makes them) and it did need to be cleaned on occasion, but it was easy and it was clear see through so you could periodically give it a peek and see if it was dirty, I would rather clean that stuff out of the filter than the $600 reverse flow water pump or worse. I tend to over do certain things, and we used a big 26" aluminum radiator, electric fans, and that electric water pump, but it worked, now I probably could have just ignored it and put it together like I would a not filled block it may have also worked... Better safe than sorry. I would rather push wrenches than my luck any day of the week.

 

[Tempest 455]

Would be more hassle than worth to try and remove. I've run filled blocks on the street. As long as you have a good cooling system, should not be a problem. If not and the motor gets hot, it will stay hot for some time.

 

[mmissile]

For myself, I'd resell the filled block...and buy another. Been there.

 

[Superb Bee]

For myself, I'd resell the filled block...and buy another. Been there.

yah what mm said, so when can I come and pick up this block, lol...

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Hey Colorado, I'm not a block fill expert but I do know polymers and cement. If it's a cement, the only effective way I know to dissolve it is with an acid, but acids also dissolve cast iron & aluminum.

However, you say that it's clear, has shrunk a little and looks like acrylic. To me, that "sounds" like a polymer of some type (not cement). It is very slow to work & the vapors cause cancer, but you can try methylene chloride (aka dichloromethane) which is found in the old "Aircraft Paint Stripper". It's worth a try. Make SURE you're not breathing the stuff. If you can get some areas softened & chisel them out with a screw driver, then maybe you can pour "puddles" of the stuff down into the cooling passages, cover the holes to reduce evaporation & just wait. Every week or so, just dig out some more of the polymer & pour in some fresh stripper. It would be slow. Also, you'll need to protect your machined surfaces (deck, cylinders, mains, etc.) since I think Aircraft stripper also has potassium hydroxide (caustic potash) or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) which will attack metal slowly. The methylene chloride won't hurt metal at all.

 

[SlinktRR]

THF is a common polymer solvent. However if this fill has been cross linked like an epoxy to high molecular weight then there is not much hope of getting it out. Also thf is a peroxide former and like all ethers it is highly flammable, so yeah i would just live with it in there. Maybe chisel out a piece and test its solubility in different solvent combinations, if you find something that works then you could see if a machine shop will immerse it in that solvent. I would not do that at home.

 

[moper]

Depending on how high the fill goes would determine if I'd run it on the street. An oil cooler goes a LONG way to helping a marginal coolant system do it's job. But if it's full filled I'd pass.

 

[dvw]

Drive it, at worst it'll need an oil cooler. Water temp stays fine. It's oil temp that gets high. We have no issue with either after installing an oil cooler.
Doug

 

[mmissile]

You could have the block stress-relieved[if plastic filled]. Then re-machine it. It should burn up plastic. I have my new blocks stress-relieved before machining. I'd check deck heights and other vitals, before investing money and time.