Come so far to find this!

[Parzival]

Well, after all the work of tearing down the heads, getting them machined, dropping the oil pan to replace the liner seals, and TONS of other stuff. TONS!
The heads are put back on and I go to install the exhaust and what do I find.... A crack in the block.
By the looks of this I don't know if it was there before or not. Because of the location I believe it may have occurred when torquing the heads, which was done exactly by the book (DMC-81 can vouch for that as-well) and the threads were cleaned up with a tap before re installing the heads so who knows how that can happen.
IMG_5556.jpg
IMG_5557.jpg

The trouble is this is where the threads for the head bolt are, so 1) who know if its really getting the clamping force required, 2) coolant may be able to leak out, 3) the crack will spread with heat up and cool down cycles 4) if this happened here, there may be more of them unseen.
So now it looks like I may be in need of an engine, and after spending over 40k on the car, to still need an engine is probably the most un-motivational thing I think I could ever come up with.
Living the dream, I am not sadly.

[Riley88]

Holy shit this sucks to see man, I am so sorry. You didn't do a full block inspection when you first tore it down? SOmeone was just selling a motor, but I am not sure if it sold, I am sure you saw the thread. Ill look around for you. Im always looking at parts, ebay, craigslist etc. If i see anything ill post it here bud. Someone whos a better engine expert im sure will post

EDIT: white out here on the forum seems to have a motor for sale!

[Parzival]

Holy shit this sucks to see man, I am so sorry. You didn't do a full block inspection when you first tore it down? SOmeone was just selling a motor, but I am not sure if it sold, I am sure you saw the thread. Ill look around for you. Im always looking at parts, ebay, craigslist etc. If i see anything ill post it here bud. Someone whos a better engine expert im sure will post

EDIT: white out here on the forum seems to have a motor for sale!

Thank you!
Yeah, not sure what to think at this point.
I'm about to leave on a trip for a week, I'll be filming full days the whole time Im gone so, wont really be deciding what to do until I get back.

As far as looking over the block, I did look at it and didn't see this, The engines never been out of the car, so those areas can be hard to see I guess. When I went to install the exhaust I got a new light that was much brighter and then I saw it, that was earlier this evening. Then just said screw it and went in.

[Riley88]

crack doesnt seem so bad

[Parzival]

crack doesnt seem so bad

I can’t imagine that coolant won’t leak out from it


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[Michael]

I can’t imagine that coolant won’t leak out from it


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As long as there are no passages open it shouldn't leak. What you might consider doing is removing the head and having it welded You might have to retap or clean up the threads but you might get lucky and just have to R+R the head and replace the gasket. If it's not possible to weld(most people don't want to weld aluminium) maybe a cold weld would work. The only issue is the torque applied right at that point with the head bolts. It might pull back loose but I would at least investigate the possibility.

I assume that if you can picture it that you can get in there to repair it without removing the engine.

[Parzival]

As long as there are no passages open it shouldn't leak. What you might consider doing is removing the head and having it welded You might have to retap or clean up the threads but you might get lucky and just have to R+R the head and replace the gasket. If it's not possible to weld(most people don't want to weld aluminium) maybe a cold weld would work. The only issue is the torque applied right at that point with the head bolts. It might pull back loose but I would at least investigate the possibility.

I assume that if you can picture it that you can get in there to repair it without removing the engine.

Not sure, I had to slide my phone in between the block and the frame to get the photo. Doubtful that someone could do a weld on the right a space.


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[Parzival]

Not sure, I had to slide my phone in between the block and the frame to get the photo. Doubtful that someone could do a weld on the right a space.


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That tight of a space I mean

[DMCMW Dave]

Unfortunately it's cracked where the bolt threads grab. If welded it would be unlikely to hold the torque of the head bolt without cracking again. To get it welded you'll probably be pulling it out of the car and taking that side apart again anyway. With all that work, I'd be shopping for at least a new block. With all the engine swaps going on you can probably find a whole engine, or decent short block, for a reasonable price.

When you torqued that bolt, were you able to pull the required torque or did it suddenly go loose? When you took the head off, did you unscrew it with a ratchet or an impact?

This can be caused by rust build up on the head bolts where they protrude thru the block. When you unscrew the head bolts the bottom end is wider than the rest of the bolt due to the rust ridge. There isn't really anything you can do about it, sometimes stuff (sic) just happens. I've actually snapped a head bolt due to this. I doubt that it will be leaking where it's cracked, that seems to be on the outside of the block and it doesn't look all that fresh. But - do you feel lucky?

It could also have been there from a prior job by an overzealous mechanic.

[Parzival]

Unfortunately it's cracked where the bolt threads grab. If welded it would be unlikely to hold the torque of the head bolt without cracking again. To get it welded you'll probably be pulling it out of the car and taking that side apart again anyway. With all that work, I'd be shopping for at least a new block. With all the engine swaps going on you can probably find a whole engine, or decent short block, for a reasonable price.

When you torqued that bolt, were you able to pull the required torque or did it suddenly go loose? When you took the head off, did you unscrew it with a ratchet or an impact?

This can be caused by rust build up on the head bolts where they protrude thru the block. When you unscrew the head bolts the bottom end is wider than the rest of the bolt due to the rust ridge. There isn't really anything you can do about it, sometimes stuff (sic) just happens. I've actually snapped a head bolt due to this. I doubt that it will be leaking where it's cracked, that seems to be on the outside of the block and it doesn't look all that fresh. But - do you feel lucky?

It could also have been there from a prior job by an overzealous mechanic.

Yeah it held the torque, I did not use an impact.
I doubt its from a prior mechanic, the car was bought from Mike's Brother at DMC Midwest.

Thinking I could remove that head bolt, and re torque it, It was torqued to 15lbs and then 115 degrees. It felt like it was holding through the full 115 degree rotation