found the nightmare today under oil and dirt

 

that's very ambitious,i have seen maybe one hole drilled and tapped.time for 8 cylinders.

 

I need help understanding what Im looking at? Is that a repair for a cracked block and how does that work?
Ive seen drill stop holes drilled in sheet metal to try and stop cracks, is this the same thing?

 

The use of tapped plugs to repair a crack in cast iron is not uncommon, but that's not how it's done. To do it correctly, you start at one end of the crack, drill and tap to install a plug, then continue with subsequent plugs that overlap the prior ones. Obviously that's not what was done here. If you plan to keep the six, now's a good time to look for a 292 short block.

 

yes, sir. this is what I'm going for.

 

Crazy, but I guess it worked, if the repair was covered w oil n grease it must have some time on it.

 

I've never seen that many(11) tapped screws done like that but stranger things have been McGivered by shade tree mechanics. It's probably a victim of I'll drain the radiator and then forget to drain the block syndrome. May have held for years, or not....Tedd

 

Have seen metal stitching before but nothing like this, bummer for you Ted.

 

the same shop musta worked on the brakes of this 69 Lemans I just picked up also ..

I about fell over laughin" ... whew ?? ,,, both sides !!

 

GMC made a 305 six if you can find one.

 

What happened was as crack kept growing more plugs were added.😀 they should have welded it. Jmo

 

Yes that is what they were attempting.

 

I have seen brazed and welded in the water jacket area. That was many years ago when people were to poor to change engines and they would doing anything to get a few more miles out of them. 😂

 

so, I did some search and found this: https://streettechmag.com/2015/03/23/block-repair/

sure looks different

 

Not my malfunction but I do still have a 324 sitting in the shed with a 11 inch crack going from petcock to the last freeze plug. I drove it home about 70 miles with a couple cans of Bars-Leak and a 5 gallon Jerry can of extra water... We call that a parts engine now..... Tedd

 

Yeah I think so too. Heck i would weld it up and use that engine some more.