I'm a friggin' stupid, idiot, moron...

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70Duster440

70Duster440

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That's right. I'll admit it.

I've had straight H2O in the cooling system while working out cooling issues. Car's been in a shop where it's normally kept warm enough to not be a problem. We'll, the temp dropped and it wasn't warm enough and the block froze. Core plug above the starter popped out. Had my fingers crossed that I would get real lucky. Now that everything has thawed and drained I found a 2" crack on the passenger side between the rear two core plugs. Didn't even have 1000 miles on it.

Just shoot me.... :banghead:

So, now I've got to decide whether to rebuild, or go a different direction: Son would like to see a blower sticking out of the hood, or a late model hemi.... it'd be nice if I had any money.

Sigh.
 
Very sorry to read this. We've all done stupid things, just some of us do them better and more often than others.

I vote for blower on the next build.:D
 
Preston is this you?? I talked to you about your car awhile back, very very sorry for your misfortune, dont take it so hard we all do inexcusible things, can you say Green Bay Packers??

[ame="http://youtu.be/BUi1Gk_NSm8"]302 Found[/ame]
 
70Duster440 said:
That's right. I'll admit it.

I've had straight H2O in the cooling system while working out cooling issues. Car's been in a shop where it's normally kept warm enough to not be a problem. We'll, the temp dropped and it wasn't warm enough and the block froze. Core plug above the starter popped out. Had my fingers crossed that I would get real lucky. Now that everything has thawed and drained I found a 2" crack on the passenger side between the rear two core plugs. Didn't even have 1000 miles on it.

Just shoot me.... :banghead:

So, now I've got to decide whether to rebuild, or go a different direction: Son would like to see a blower sticking out of the hood, or a late model hemi.... it'd be nice if I had any money.

Sigh.
Click to expand...

OK then, I'm an OLD friggin' stupid, moron.
Quite a few years ago, I had a 340 Swinger I bought in Florida and took home to Ohio. Now this part realy didn't happen to the younger generation (I would street race the Dart, and did pretty well) put a push rod thru a rocker arm and didn't fix it. I had forgotten that I had water in the cooling syst. and let it sit a good part of the winter. Ok then guess what, a nice long crack in the lifter galley. Numbers engine. Oh well. Had to be about 30 years ago. I still have the Swinger, just waiting on funds to finish the Hemi install.

I say BLOWER!!!!!
 
So much for "freeze plugs"..Sorry to hear that. JB weld/hardblock it and do a pressure test until you get your next block. perhaps itll run enough to get it where it needs to go.
 
If you can find a welder that understands the properties of cast iron, you could have the crack pinned and welded...just sayin' all is not lost.
 
Did that once. For a short period of time I ran a 318 in my car, while my 340 was torn down for upgrades

I had my Duster in the garage (straight water in the radiator, forgot about it) and my grandfather / the boss started complaining to me about how my car was taking up space in the garage. (and yet his stuff can take up space for years, and I can't complain about it)

It had been a bad day before that comment, I jumped in the car, cranked it up, slammed it into reverse and left black streaks on the floor as I peeled outside.

That evening, I was sitting on the couch and I'm thinking "Did I have antifreeze in my engine? S***!" I ran outside and popped the cap off, sure enough it was frozen solid.

Removed the fan belt, started my car up, thawed the block out and took it back into the garage. no plugs popped, no cracks in the block, no damage to anything :prayer:

That engine still runs to this day, it's in my '75 W300 Towtruck now :D
 
Here's the visible evidence. Don't know if there are any internal ones though there's no evidence of water in the oil - yet. I appreciate the suggestions and may try one of the interim "fixes".

Good thing I don't drink.
 

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  • Block crack - passenger side.jpg
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I had a Mustang with a 289 in it. They were known for cracking on the back of the block. Mine did and I used JB weld. Never had a problem again........
 
Back in 1979 I had a 426 Hemi in a 1966 Belvedere II 4 door that I would street race.I was in bed one night and woke up from a dead sleep about 4:00am because I realized it was dipping into the twenties that night and I had forgotton to drain the water out of my motor.I went out in my shoes and underwear and a jacket and slid under the car to open the petcocks I had installed on both sides of the block.Fortunately the temps in the garage were still in the high 30's and all of the water drained out on the floor. Sure was puckered up till i saw that water coming out. I just read a good article in some publication about pinning and welding cast iron so it can be fixed. I had a 273 once in a race car that we had ported all the way into the water jackets.Since we had nothing to lose we put Devcon over all the spots we had gone through and I used those heads for another 5 or 6 years with no leaks.Good luck. As far as the peckerhead club goes I have probably been their posterchild for 20 years or more.
 
SOB! I feel for you. I'm having one of those days as well but, not as bad as you. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and have a beer EH!
 
Snake said:
You just joined the pecker head club,been there.
Click to expand...

LOL!

Had this happen to a friend once.

All you have to do to prevent damage during storage is to leave the radiator cap off. It will freeze up and form a frozen waterfall coming out of the radiator cap. This keeps the pressure off and will not let the block crack. Just for future reference
 
I had a dream a few days ago that I forgot to put antifreeze in my 65 Barracuda. As soon as I woke up I had to go out and check. It was alright. Sorry about your block.
 
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