Take a look at these pics of the block that I just took out of my 77 Z. Has anyone ever seen any kind of welds like this on a block? The welds appear on both the left and right side of the block. A little background about this car first. It hasn't run since 1984. I know this is true because I saw the car on blocks when I was in high school and periodically until I bought it in 2003. This is the original block that came in the car. I couldn't contact the original owner, but I did call the second owner, who I bought it from. He bought the car in 1978 with only 15K miles on it and he assured me that he had never had anything done to the engine. The last pic of piston number 2 is why the car hasn't run since 1984. The odometer on this car reads just over 90,000 miles. Also, since the car only had 15K when the previous owner bought it and the block did have a defect in it, you would think that GM would replace the engine under the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.

Any input is appreciated.

http://images.snapfish.com/344798%3A%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2346%3D526%3D749%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A5247%3A2%3C7ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/344798%3A%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2346%3D526%3D749%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A5247%3A332ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/344798%3A%3B23232%7Ffp3%3Enu%3D3255%3E435%3E658%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3B43389427nu0mrj

The warrenty is for repair or replace, I would say they opted to repair. Who knows why they welded it, it could have had some core shift that left the outer wall thin enough to leak, it could have been overheated and cracked or the coolant froze and cracked the block or a dozen other things could have required the repair. I would say they did a good job, it did hold together for 90,000 miles and 25+ years.

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that the head gaskets were the original metal gaskets that were used back in the day. I thought that was interesting too, indicating that the heads probably had never been off of the block.

Would you hesitate to use this block (assuming all checks out well at the machine shop).

Shane

We have seen alot of blocks like this over the years crack below the decks and have gotten rid of them but a crack in the lifter galley in most cases we repair them with the lock and stitch menthod and has always worked fine and the cylinder with the valve failure I am sure will be out of shape.

Also the weld looks like it has been leaking.

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Holy crap, is that a broken valve stuck in the piston? I'd be leary to use a block with that kind of repairs done to it, especialy with all the blocks out there.

I'll get another block if this one is not any good. The ONLY reason that I would want to use it is because it's the original number's matching block that came in the car.

That block with its patch welds is likely of no value as a "numbers matching" piece. Concours judges wouldn't approve ;-)

Looks like it freeze cracked...

<font face="Arial,Verdana" size="2">Originally posted by camertom:
That block with its patch welds is likely of no value as a "numbers matching" piece. Concours judges wouldn't approve ;-)</font>

That's fine - not a concours restoration here. Why would they not approve if the number on the block matches the number on the VIN? Would they not approve if it had been punched 30 or 40? Just curious.

Can't say as I know. I always thought first time a block was surfaced the stamped numbers were lost anyway and this is a normal practice on an old engine. Thw welds aren't normal on any engine;-) Just the correct casting # should do if you want to stay original. But I was just joking about Concours judges. I'm not even restoring mine, I'm hot rodding it.