What's a reasonable price for a replacement engine?

[Andrew]

The engine that is currently in 5052 has been running with a welded motor mount ear since 2002 (the ear snapped off while trying to remove a seized / broken motor mount stud). I ended up taking the entire engine to a welding shop which was experienced in aluminum repairs. From what I recall, the repair cost was $80.

As long as the welder is knowledgeable in the art and skill of working with aluminum, they shouldn't have too much difficulty making a lasting repair.

[Delorean Industries]

Broken ear with clean material is much different that eroded aluminum in the valley. Block rot isn't a clean brake. The material decays to a fine dust.

[DMCVegas]

I'm gonna shove a quarter or two in here and play...



Stainless Steel and Aluminum both have a shared property where they create a thin layer of oxidation that actually seals the metal off and prevents further rust. Stainless protects the Carbon portion with its Chromium content to create Chromium Oxide. Aluminum just sacrifices the outer layer of itself to create Aluminum Oxide. Aluminum of course *can* corrode as we have seen with block rot. But, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong here, you need something like Mercury to act as an amalgamate to continually strip away that layer of aluminum Oxide to actually act as a cancer that has to be cut out before ALL aluminum is completely destroyed. Otherwise to weld up aluminum, you just need to cut a clean surface to weld back.

Likewise if we have rotting vegetation that creates the acidic environment that corrodes the aluminum, once the sludge is removed, the process is stopped completely.

Now if you have a hole down inside one of the pockets in the VOD, that *should* be repairable. Granted it's not an easy repair for both location, as well as fire risk with all of the oil on the other side. But why wouldn't welding fix block rot? Now I do admit that if the block rot has destroyed the ribs across the top of the pockets, yes, that block is possibly gone as those are structural supports for the entire block. Welding that up might be a different story all together.

So far, I honestly don't see how David T is wrong? And I'm not taking sides here at all. But I just want to get down to some basic fact finding on this.

And I know that we've gotten a bit off topic with Farrar's original question. But it seems that his engine might not be as bad as he thinks it is. And others who will encounter this problem in the future should also be able to know their options as well.

[Delorean Industries]

You are assuming that the block is bad only where it failed.... This conversation serves no purpose and continues to miseducated owners as with the rest of this forum as a whole. Public opinion is the most dangerous advice of all. People without the proper knowledge should be allocated into a private forum where view points and improper courses of action will not accidentally influence the general population without those reading being fully aware of the consequences of taking shade tree advice. It's simple. Block rots... Replace.

[DMCVegas]

I wouldn't say that the conversation serves no purpose whatsoever. If you're saying that if there is block rot in one place, that chances are it's all over and thereby makes the entire block unsalvageable due to either integrity or cost prohibitive factors, I think that's a good thing to share.

I'm not here to simply "win" an argument. I'm just fact finding is all. If what you say is true, then you've absolutely changed my mind about things. My opinion changes on things as new facts get presented, as should other peoples' as well. No shame in that. But like you I just want to make sure that we don't have misinformation floating around.

Along these lines, we already know of the VOD. Where else should we check for block rot at when inspecting an engine/car?

[Delorean Industries]

The back two deep cavities are normally the worst. This is due to contamination build up etc in the back portion or a leaking hydraulic system on a manual car. The worst thing you can do is seal a block without properly cleaning. To do so prior to coating with anything you must chem dip, wash in a caustic tank, dip again, mask and media blast, pre prep with a moderate PH based cleaner and then coat. Sealing the valley other wise will take away the protection it normally has. If you remove the air from the situation and leave the contamination it will progress faster. Oxidation and build up of a contamination/shed layer is crucial if the block is not prepped properly.

The other two main issues are the head gasket surface near the oil returns. The gasket deteriorates over time due to carbon erosion. This is from oil contamination etc from the combustion process. The last major concern is sediment build up at the base of the liner cavities. Mainly but not always at the lowest point in the system. This will literally eat the block from the inside out and is the fate of most crate engines sold in the last ten years.

[Bitsyncmaster]

The aluminum pipe used in all the cooling system is another place I found pitting. It was mostly on the drivers side closer to the engine. It seemed to only be a problem under where the hose had been clamped onto the pipe. The inside of the pipes looked very clean. So it looks like the coolant has something to do with the corrosion.

That was back when I had money (a job) so I bought all new NOS pipes and had them powder coated.

[Delorean Industries]

Please tell me not on the inside of the pipes...

[Bitsyncmaster]

Please tell me not on the inside of the pipes...

The inside was fine but the outside had a few pits that almost went through. The inside of the pipes on the right side of the car looked brand new. It's funny the pitting was under the hoses ends so it must be something with the hose rubber and coolant.

This is very common on the pipe cap over the thermostat on all cars I've had.

[Farrar]

If you buy a used motor you don't know how rotten it is or if it even works.

Engine, not motor.

And anyway, there are some vendors who guarantee their engines to be not seized, not rusted, etc. and offer a 30-day return guarantee. So it's not necessarily as bad as you seem to think, perhaps.

It sounds as though you've just got a blown head gasket.

From pessimism to optimism... So, what's the best head gasket to buy? Oh, never mind, I'll just call Josh at DPI, who only stocks the best.

I see there have been a boatload of replies since the last time I checked in. Sorry I haven't been around to answer them all -- either Gmail or vBulletin is doing something weird where I don't get notifications that there's been a reply to a thread I'm subscribed to until a few days after the reply has been posted.

Anyway, we got off the track a little bit, but I appreciate all of the input here so far.

What's the best way to test for a head gasket leak without the engine running? I have a compression tester ... should I hook it up and look for bubbles in the coolant?

-Farrar