Cast damage at rear main seal. Scrap it or use it?

After cleaning up a 79 318 block I found troubles at the rear main seal. See pics. A broken peace, marked in yellow. This is the upper side of the main seal.
Scrap the thing or use it? What should I consider? Lots of sealant? The block is very usable, apart from this issue.. My thought is to just use it with a new seal an carefull use of sealant..

Thanks!

Robchally said:

After cleaning up a 79 318 block I found troubles at the rear main seal. See pics. A broken peace, marked in yellow. This is the upper side of the main seal.
Scrap the thing or use it? What should I consider? Lots of sealant? The block is very usable, apart from this issue.. My thought is to just use it with a new seal an carefull use of sealant..

Thanks!


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Personally, I think I would have it welded by somebody who can properly weld cast iron. Then I would grind it as flat as possible to give the crank flange plenty of clearance. I don't think I would trust just putting sealant around the broken piece.

Looks to me the part is broken off, and just hanging, cannot see the outside lip on the backside. So right now it serves no purpose, and more then likely fall off during engine operation sometime in the near future. I would not "doe ball" it with excessive sealant, that would be a band-aid. Me, I would use brazing rod, braze loves to wick into cast iron, and being in that area it serves no purpose other then to keep the seal in. This is a cheap and effective way.

And yes the best way and expensive, is to break the part off, ground little on the edges to let it rest flat again and have it weld back in correctly. This is the best way

And let use not forget JB weld / metal epoxy , if you can clean, super clean the area I would give it a 50/50 chance......lol

I've had that area broken on the main cap when the block was dragged or dropped on that edge. For me, they have leaked regardless of how much silicone was used because there wasn't enough support for the seal. Welding, brazing or epoxy might work if cut/filed accurately afterwards.

Thanks guys.

I'm going to try the JB-weld-option. I hope the back side still has some strength left. Let's wait and see!
Have a good weekend!