What is this and why would it be there?

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J

JF900

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Hey guys. I pulled down a 340 out of a Dart I'm going through and found this epoxy like stuff on the inner block under the intake. Can someone speculate what it's there for?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
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Probably covering a crack in the intake valley through to the water jacket. Pretty common on some of them in colder climates.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Probably covering a crack in the intake valley through to the water jacket. Pretty common on some of them in colder climates.
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Look at the machining on the opposite bank. Think it had a roller cam at one point...And has bad core shift, and that JB goo is covering where they punched water jackets on the other side??
 
This doesn't sound good...
What's the prognosis? Should this block be used?
 
JF900 said:
This doesn't sound good...
What's the prognosis? Should this block be used?
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I mean looking at that sloppy mess, i would be very very hesitant. I have a fully machined 360 block in the garage that i had $1000 in, that hairline cracked in that same area...and I put some epoxy on it....and couldn't bring myself to use it.

I know its a 340, but unless you find someone to pressure check the hell out of it, I probably couldn't bring myself to use it.

the dangers of a used engine...never know what someone else did to it.

I would say this is what happened verbatim

someone wanted a roller cam engine, so began machining the side without the epoxy on it.
that went ok, so they started on the other side. unaware of core shift
they punched through to a water jacket. and slopped that stuff on there to "fix" it.
and they either abandoned the roller, or got another block and used this one on a flat tappet build at a later time.
 
Was it running and being used like that ? Was there water in the oil ? If not and it’s not a high dollar build leave it alone.
Maybe it was “pinned” or welded and the epoxy was just for extra insurance.
 
Yes it was running and ran well - no coolant in the oil. I found strip tags in the glovebox that were 12.8 runs. The owner ran it with old L60s and full length exhaust.
This motor isn't the numbers matching motor that came with the car. Can anyone suggest a Mopar motor builder in the York, PA area I could have take a look at rebuilding the original?
Johnny, does BP do rebuilds?
 
JF900 said:
Yes it was running and ran well - no coolant in the oil. I found strip tags in the glovebox that were 12.8 runs. The owner ran it with old L60s and full length exhaust.
This motor isn't the numbers matching motor that came with the car. Can anyone suggest a Mopar motor builder in the York, PA area I could have take a look at rebuilding the original?
Johnny, does BP do rebuilds?
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We just sell core free engines. Usually cheaper than you can buy the parts and get machine work done. Only way to save $ vs ours is if you are reusing major components and doing all assembly yourself. IMO anyways. Plus 30 month warranty and fully dyno tested.
 
SB mopar's are prone to crack there when they freeze, I have seen it many times even a T/A block unfortunately.
 
Just chisel it off and see. If there's an issue, you want to know. If not, then :)
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
Wonder what rollers they were to use.
More than needed for clearance.
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Retrofit roller in a block with alot of core shift. I know some brands are favoured for having the rivet pin on and the tie bar on the top, but many are the opposite. Low rivet and tie bar. Require troughs like that. Maybe not THAT big...bit not that far off.
 
Johnny Mac said:
Retrofit roller in a block with alot of core shift. I know some brands are favoured for having the rivet pin on and the tie bar on the top, but many are the opposite. Low rivet and tie bar. Require troughs like that. Maybe not THAT big...bit not that far off.
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The higher v link bars are the ones to use, for sure. That almost resembles a late model la 360 roller cut.
 
It wasn’t leaking before. what performance level will the motor be? Street car, stockish build. I would take “yes” for an answer and leave it be. Moderate to higher level hp, I might start looking for new block either way I wouldn’t touch the epoxy. It worked fine for stock rebuild use it for that or keep it until you can use it that way. If you can talk to the last owner and find out how longs its been that way might help you decide. If its be there for years why poke a sleeping dog?
 
I would look for a block. Or have it spray welded. I just don't trust glue where I can't see whats going on. Especially that much glue. On the side of the block what is the dash number. 340-1 to 340-11 ? I'll bet its a high number. I also agree it was probanly machined through for rollers
 
Not trying to get off topic but why would you have to machine it like that for roller rockers
 
furrystump said:
It wasn’t leaking before. what performance level will the motor be? Street car, stockish build. I would take “yes” for an answer and leave it be. Moderate to higher level hp, I might start looking for new block either way I wouldn’t touch the epoxy. It worked fine for stock rebuild use it for that or keep it until you can use it that way. If you can talk to the last owner and find out how longs its been that way might help you decide. If its be there for years why poke a sleeping dog?
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The previous owner owned the car for 20 years. On special occasions he'd pull it out and raise cain, or take it to the drag strip. He was a Chevy guy (owned a couple of cars), but said the Dart was a car he loved to drive because it ran so well. The motor was built by the guy he bought it from.
Oldmanmopar said:
On the side of the block what is the dash number. 340-1 to 340-11 ? I'll bet its a high number.
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It's 340-2. 1-14-71 block and there's a large "4" cast on each side of the block.
 
I repaired a 6v71 detroit that had a ball bearing punched through the water jacket with JB weld. Cleaned oil out, etched it with muratic acid. Killed acid with boiling water. Some time in 2001. Still runs to this day. Its on a generator so runs at rated all the time.
 
If it’s been that way for 20 years, I wouldn’t touch it for a street/strip car. When you get it back together just pay close attention to how much water is in the radiator and keep checking the dipstick for signs of water. Just an abundance of caution that torquing the heads didn’t cause an issue.
 
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