To Weld or not to Weld

[Monte1961]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

To answer the question if a 350 engine will work. 400 cid down to 283 cid are pretty much the same engine block. The one thing about small block chevys are that they are cheap and easy to find parts! I am not sure about changing the cam, but just to be safe you mite want to investigate. Post back and let us know how you make out.

 

[mrcrabs]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

they use a Rv type cam for I/O 350 unless its some modified racer application...then who knows??

 

[Fordiesel69]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

Oh, and freeze plugs need to be changed.

 

[soggy_feet]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

Just to throw my $.02 in there...


I'd braze it. Drill the ends of the cracks like someone above mentioned, wire wheel it, flux it up good and put the torch to it.

Much easier than welding, dont have to worry so much about making the base metal brittle, and a braze joint can be just as strong as a welded joint.

My background would be a 'Welding Technologies' major in college, and 5 years aerospace, and some moonlighting with fab work out of my garage.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

I would suggest what Soogy mentioned because what do you have to lose, If so make sure you pre and post heat the weld area before and after and then run it on a test stand for several cycles of operating temp and then cooling back down to ambiant temp to test the repair before dropping it back in but most likely your looking at a long block replacement @ best I think your gonna end up ahead ether way thats definatley a nice hull. Good luck!

 

[merkaba]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

Thanks again everyone for all the input. Feel free to keep it coming . I'm in the process of pricing out the different options and will decide what to do from there. The three options I am pricing are:

1) getting just a block and swapping everything needed over.
2) buying a short block and gaskets etc
3) buying a long block
4) just trying to weld/marine tex/wire wheel/ or something similiar

The long block option definitely wouldn't be doable for me this year, as i have a bunch of other higher priority stuff i need to spend money on.

 

[fibersport]

Re: To Weld or not to Weld

the one thing to watch out for in small blocks is the change they went through in the mid 80's I think. there are two wasy ways to tell, one is the rear main seal is one piece on the newer ones and the other is the valve covers are held on by bolts through the top of them rather than the sides. The angle of the head to intake manifold is also different on the newer ones. My guess however is that your block is the older style as marine engines typically lag behind automotive applications.