sawfilm

Here are pics of my block. The starter mount thread is huge or altered,
This is a 1979 350 motor according to numbers on the motor.
How can I fix it? Weld a bolt maybe? Do I trash this block?

wr1970

The motor will have to be cleaned spotless. Then it can be welded. I had my engine apart and had it tank cleaned to remove all the grease oil and rust. PM me.

RetroRanger

lots of inexpensive 350s and blocks out there see what it would cost to repair yours and then decicde

Gerald Nickels

Junk, you might be fine for some time but it will brake again and leave you stranded. Not good.
JUNK IT

oldcutlass

It can be fixed by a good welder that knows how to weld cast iron. wr1970 is correct that area needs to be clean.

wr1970

Gerald you are wrong plain and simple. I have one that was broke.I got it welded in 2001 still working fine. As a matter of fact i drag raced the engine the motor went mid 12's in my 1970 442. way over a thousand passes and drove on the street and to the track. It never failed.

sawfilm

Well thanks, most do believe I can get a good pro welder and make it work. In the meanwhile maybe I'll look for someone in the Fayetteville Georgia area selling a 350 or 455. Let me know if ya have any leads.

wr1970

Want a picture give me a pm with cell or a web site. my cost to get it welded was $30. That was just the welding. The cleaning of the block was extra for hot tanking don't remember how much. Getting it very clean is the key to the weld holding with a guy who knows how to weld cast iron.

olds 307 and 403

Being a windowed main 350, price fixing it accordingly. Never seen that before.

oldcutlass

Delving deeper into an answer. If this is an engine your planning on rebuilding, then yes I'd replace the block. If this is an engine that is a good runner with no plans to rebuild, then i would just repair it.

wr1970

Junking a repairable engine block at a very very low cost is simply wrong i don't care who says it. It isn't my engine the op can do what ever he want's but i think this is bad advice.

edzolz

Do you have the piece that broke off? If not, then it is really a moot point. Cast iron is really hard to build up with weld to re-drill and tap the hole for the bolt. Welding a bolt to cast iron is not really a good choice. Two dissimilar metals don't weld too good.

wr1970

Okay here is the proof first photo is my 1970 engine to show it has been used a lot needs to be refeshed after using many years and over a thousand pass's drag racing and street miles.

wr1970

This shows repair from top side. Notice nut with a flat doubler!

wr1970

This is the bottom view. This is what it looks like when trying to put on your starter. I did use a Miny starter power master 9510.

wr1970

I was told by machine shop back in 2001 the repair was done with a mig welder. This motor was taken out in 2015 i think may have been spring of 2016. Motor still ran fine but was starting to use oil and lower oil pressure. For a street motor only had more miles in it under regular driving. I just want a crisp full throttle engine with no worries. The is why i pulled it to refresh it. I dropped a fresh temp racing engine in the car.

76olds

I would have it welded, Neeley is proof of this working with provided pictures ( Thanks). I know its a throw away world but, how many Olds engines are being cast today? you have to think about it. Not only will you be preserving an Olds block ( being a window main or not) you will be helping a small business man stay alive and take care of his or her family locally. A good welder would be happy to fix you up, heck, you could make a new friend at the same time.
The choice is yours,
Eric

joe_padavano

^^^This is the real issue. Of course it can be welded. The question is one of economics. If you can get an earlier 350 block for near the cost of fixing this one properly, that's a no brainer.

FYI, I've never seen that before either. Yet another reason to use the often-discarded starter support strap.

oldcutlass

Its more common in the BBC crowd.

lemoldsnut

I have seen two like this. One was a 403 and we did not fix it. It had high miles and happened in a car accident that drove the suspension into the starter. The other was a 455 that was dropped when being moved with a forklift. We fixed it similar to the one shown. It worked for another 80k miles with no starter issues. I agree with Joe. The starter brace strap was used for a reason and should be used. No a days it is getting hard to find a starter with the hole to bolt it in.

olds 307 and 403

There was actually one on the 260 in the 70, betting it is the original starter that came on the 70, one of the big ones.

wr1970

Mine wasn't broke from not using a start strap! The guy got killed in my 1970 442! Broke the frame in two broke the block in the starter location. Some *** hat tried to repair it with angle iron gussets on the frame using a cheap welder. The welds didn't hold. I bought the car put a different frame under the car. Then i had the engine repaired. Had the block bored out to end up with a 461ci. Joe P why do i need a starter strap when then car went as many years as mine has with ZERO problems. Cancel that Joe no need for you to respond. Well if you guys are to cheap to use a power washer. Find a nut cut a cheap piece of flat steel then mig weld it. If you can't weld or pay fifty bucks to get it done. If you are that cheap not to fix a good block. My way of thinking you should ride a bike because you can't afford cars. Done with this thread full of Nay Sayers.

sawfilm

You have done great. Don't worry about the uninformed peanut gallery
.

joe_padavano

Oh, but I must.

Two reasons. First, leaving the strap off DOES increase bending load on the bolts, aluminum starter nose, and the mating surface of the block. Yeah, I've left many off also, with no problems, but the reality is that this is a fatigue loading issue, not a strength issue. If you don't drive the car much, it won't be bouncing the starter around and you won't have any issues. On a daily driver that hits potholes and expansion joints, it adds up.

The second reason is the starter ground path. The dissimilar steel starter body, aluminum nose, and iron block are subject to galvanic corrosion. If you leave the strap off, the only ground path for the starter is through the nose piece. If corrosion builds up, you'll have the usual hot start problems. The strap provides a path of similar metals that are not subject to galvanic corrosion.