409 crack repair
- Thread starter BSL409
- Start date
Ive seen the video on this process and it is very impressive.and from what Ive heard,very reliable.good luck!!!
Hey Brian, I have a new lock-n-stitch kit I bought a few years ago then never used it. My kit doesn't seem to have enough lock pins to do a big job. Could you record the size and number you use? I've got a DVD that came with it but haven't watched it yet. Depending on you to provide suggestions after you finish. Thanks
I have repaired a couple dozen blocks, including several W-motors, with these tapered threaded cast iron plugs. A water jacket crack like the one pictured would take around six hours to repair, if you keep plenty of overlap on the plugs. There are a few little tricks to doing it right.
Let me know how it goes. I have one just like it.
Brian...one other thing. Be sure to check inside the block above the lifter galley to make sure it's not cracked. I have one block that is cracked on the outside, inside just below the deck surface and right down the middle of the lifter galley on one side!!!! Wonder how cold it had to be to have that happen?????
63 Biscayne
Well Known Member
Cold like over here this morning -31 degrees !
Mark Steele
Well Known Member
I was over to an engine builders just today. He showed me two 409 blocks on the table for rebuild that he had repaired (welded) in the exact place yours is cracked. He said this is a common 409 problem. He said after he welds them - they will last. Mark Steele
You and Aubrey and Ron.............................bbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!Cold like over here this morning -31 degrees !
Are the heads bolted on to stress the block so everything's in like a "home"position?.....does that make sense??
I hate to have to say this, but the plugs need to go in angled at about 30 degrees left, then 30 degrees right, repeated this way through the entire length of the crack. Starting with the second plug, it needs to intersect about 30 percent of the diameter of the previous plug. Like interlocking your fingers, this "cross-stitching" of the plugs in left-right angles, while each plug overlaps into the previous plug, is what ties the deck to the side of the block casting. If not done in this way, the taper of the plugs is only trying to force each side of the crack further apart. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, maybe I should have explained all this in the previous post.
If these plugs all angle one direction, and the next round angles the other way, it might still tie everything together. I have always done them one after another, as it ties the two sides together right from the start.You are on the first round of drilling. Your second round in between the inserts will seal. I was thinking you were just doing the one step.Carry on.
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