How bad did I screw up

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Craig Burriss

Craig Burriss

FABO Gold Member
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Bought a super cheap RV 440 yesterday. Tearing it down today I was fighting one of the water pump housing bolts. I broke the block
I feel like this isn’t the end of the road for this block. There’s still about a 1/4” of hole left behind the break.

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You ve the broken piece that could be welded back on. That "might" work. That looks like a blind hole with the water jacket on the other side so drilling deeper and re-tapping might not be a option. Good thing it was super cheap.
 
If there are still a 1/4" of threads in the block in that location, you could just use a stud instead of a bolt on that one. It will probably be fine.
 
I would JB weld it back on with extra bonding around the edges, maybe make a strap around the sides and cover it with jb weld too, and recut the threads. Not a high stress area.
 
Vertex_Jeff said:
If there are still a 1/4" of threads in the block in that location, you could just use a stud instead of a bolt on that one. It will probably be fine.
Click to expand...
It doesn't look like there is much left.

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As stated above, drilling deeper and tapping will keep the block usable. Its a water pump mount, minimal PSI. The gasket and silicone will be fine.
 
A "GOOD" welder or machine shop can fix that.
 
A few things come to mind.
  1. How much did you pay for the block
  2. Will any repair be suitable
  3. How much would it cost to repair professionally
  4. Is that more than another block

I like the stud idea.
If the area behind the stud has significant material that you could drill it deeper even if you go into the water jacket (SBM have water pump bolts that go into the water jacket, they need sealer but no big deal)

If it was me and it was cost effective I would have it professionally repaired.
 
Craig Burriss said:
Tearing it down today I was fighting one of the water pump housing bolts. I broke the block
Click to expand...

How did you break it off?

OR was it already cracked?

If it was already cracked what else on the motor is on the verge of catastrophic failure.
 
Dana67Dart said:
How did you break it off?

OR was it already cracked?

If it was already cracked what else on the motor is on the verge of catastrophic failure.
Click to expand...
I had the great idea to start beating the water pump housing with a hammer after fighting the bolt for 30 minutes using conventional methods. It’s a fresh looking break. All my fault
 
Stick your finger in that lower water passage & see if you have accees to hook your finger around behind that bolt hole... That'll give you an idea of how much metal you have to work with... It looks like there should be enough to drill deeper & tap without getting into the coolant passage...

I'd do a combination of reattaching the broken part, deeper threads & use a stud...
 
Craig Burriss said:
I had the great idea to start beating the water pump housing with a hammer after fighting the bolt for 30 minutes using conventional methods. It’s a fresh looking break. All my fault
Click to expand...
Sometimes the best way to remove a bolt is to break off the head, then drill it out.

Or

Cut off the disposable part.

But I feel your frustrations, been there many times.

A few years ago I was replacing a water pump on a 96 5.2.

One of the bolts is too long to come out till the water pump is loose.

In my wisdom I used a one-way ratcheting wrench. It was all good till I got it captured, not enough space to grab the shaft and screw it back in.

I had to wait till all the other bolts were out to continue using the wrench till it was off.
 
The GREAT thing is, you HAVE the piece that broke off. That will be a Godsend for a welder to weld it back in place.
 
Take it to a shop that can braze or weld cast iron. If I was doing the repair I would choose brazing. After that I would use a stud if possible. Might want to have the rest of the block checked first in case you find something else wrong with the block that makes it unusable. Good luck with your project.
 
Looks like a good candidate for brazing. The tough part about working on something like a block is that the body of the block sucks the heat away, and that's why on an important job like iron hemi head repair usually furnace heating is preferred, but a skilled brazer should be able to get your little corner break done.
 
Weld up with nickel rod, braze, or use a JB weld type product re drill and tap.
Welding and brazing is a PIA due to keeping such a large area preheated throughout the process as stated.
When drilling a mill would be nice so you could resurface the mounting face as well when done.
I would imagine a few cus words were emitted as a result of the breakage.
Experience in a given process may be the deciding factor in the repair. If using the original piece tig may be the answer?
Old engine cores are getting harder to find so successful fixes are important.
Maybe sonic check the block before doing the repair depending on the future plans of the block. Could have a thin area on a cylinder or two? May not be worth fixing?
 
I would just weld a stud in there if I was worried about it.
In 1980 I would have cinched up the remaining 2 bolts and used silicone on the gasket. It would probably be like that to this very day.
Had a starter once that was only held on by one bolt. lol
 
Braze the busted chunk and a stud into the hole and don’t look back.
 
I just finished tearing it down to a bare block and got it all cleaned up. Appears to be high mileage and standard bore, came with 452 heads, and a windage tray which is a first for me. As far as the water pump housing hole, I’m probably just going to ignore it. I feel like 2 of the 3 bolts will hold it fine. If it leaks I’ll drill it further in and tap it.
Not sure if I’m going to do a full build on this one or just do a basic piston/cam build like my other 440s.

Here’s the truck it’s probably going in.
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