Titan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyWidenersRotoMetals2
RepackboxSnyders JerkyInline FabricationLoad Data
Lee Precision Reloading Everything
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 25

Thread: Patch for cracked block?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    nekshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    swmissouri
    Posts
    3,116

    Patch for cracked block?

    I have a farmall I plan on selling and it has a small patch on block. It never bothered me as I bought it that way but I noticed a corner is lifting away from block. Is JB Weld still the go to material for these type of repairs?
    Look twice, shoot once.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    Hickory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    The Great Black Swamp of Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    4,434
    Several years ago I was at a machine shop getting heads milled for an engine.
    The machinist was using a two-part epoxie to repair a crankshaft that spun a bearing. He said it was the greatest thing he ever used, and he said he used it many times.
    I don't recall the name of it but after hearing this man's endorsement I'd use it.
    Political correctness is a national suicide pact.

    I am a sovereign individual, accountable
    only to God and my own conscience.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    xs11jack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    O'Fallon, Mo.
    Posts
    1,128
    Go to Old Tractor.com, I think thats the add. Lots of good advise t here.
    Ole Jack
    "'Necesity' is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of Tyrants: it is the creed of slaves."
    William Pitt, 1783
    "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we faulter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy varmintpopper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    cental calif
    Posts
    237
    If it is a crack in the block it can sometimes be repaired by drilling/tapping and then putting a brass screw in, then grind the screw off flush with the block then drill another hole half in the last screw and half in the block, keep doing this until You have sewed up the crack with a row of screws.

    Good Shooting

    Lindy

  5. #5

  6. #6
    Banned

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Arkansas
    Posts
    1,493
    Devcon has a metal filled epoxy.

    There was also one called "Super Metal". Don't know if they are still around.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Atlanta, NY 14808
    Posts
    2,166
    I had one welded once. AC WD, I believe. Welder heated red hot with acetylene torch, peened with a hammer, arc welded with cast iron rod, and smeared with a stick of sulfur to seal any microscopic pores. JB weld sounds like a better solution.
    Micah 6:8
    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

    "I don't have hobbies - I'm developing a robust post-apocalyptic skill set"
    I may be discharged and retired but I'm sure I did not renounce the oath that I solemnly swore!

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    14,536
    A lot depends on where the crack is in the block and weather its oil, water ,return passage, or pressure. Ive seen some ground out to form a u shaped channel or even a dovetail and filled that did pretty good on return areas where on pressure was present. On some of the small farmalls there wasn't a water pump so there was little pressure to the Hyper siphion system. But the water and heat will eventually affect the epoxies. The big thing when doing this type of patch is to clean clean and reclean the cast iron getting the oil out of it and a rough surface for it to bond too. On the few Ive done I even heated the area with a propane torch to burn oils and contaminats out of the cast iron. JB weld has been used for years and a low tem braize or soft solder can be used depending on where and accessability to the area.

  9. #9
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    2,725
    We used to weld cast iron in a shop I worked at. Make sure you drill holes at each end of the crack so it doesn't spread from heat/cooling stress. Grind a little bevel into the crack with a diamond wheel on a dremel or die grinder. Heat the area with a torch, weld with a nickel rod. Nickel is what they use for cast iron. It is kind of a half way between welding and brazing with nickel. Part of the cast iron actually alloys with the nickel on the edge and blends to pure nickel right in the middle. That's how it was explained to me anyway. This fix is very nearly as strong as the original cast iron. If you just want to plug a leek in the antifreeze or oil, you could use a high temp two part epoxy. You still might want to drill the ends of the crack though so it doesn't spread.

  10. #10
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    2,725
    I know that you probably do not need to weld the block but I thought this was interesting so here it is:

    http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...on-detail.aspx

  11. #11
    Moderator Emeritus

    MaryB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    SW Minnesota
    Posts
    10,313
    Friend used JB Weld on a lawnmower crankcase that had cracked. He cleaned it well with acetone to degrease it, roughed it up with very coarse sandpaper, added a 4 layer fiberglass patch then layers of epoxy. Lasted 5 more years before it blew the engine for good.

  12. #12
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    6
    The two part epoxie Hickory referred to, might have been a product called BelZona (sp). It is used for many types of machine/equipment repairs. JB Weld will be much more cost effective and easier to find.

  13. #13
    In Remembrance

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Nct, Ohio
    Posts
    1,097
    PC-7 is very durable, two part epoxy that sticks well and is even machinable. Place I used to work at had a hydraulic pump housing fixed with it because it was an obsolete part.
    I used some on my stepdads water pump housing on his inboard boat motor, five seasons later it was still holding. I was surprised to see it's now available at walmart.

  14. #14
    Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    SE Iowa
    Posts
    679

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
    nekshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    swmissouri
    Posts
    3,116
    Thanks, I want one of those epoxies. Somebody used JB on it a while before I bought it and I had it 13 years so I know the fix I will do and will be good for along time for the next owner. I had a front end mount for a 806 INTL fixed at a welding shop and it looked like they brazed it but the fix held like new which was night a strong point on those tractors. Thanks for all input!
    Look twice, shoot once.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    4,900
    It depends who you are selling it to. With all such repairs, much of the labour may be in getting the inside of the crack really clean, especially if it has been that way a long time. With really clean but rough surfaces the situation seems pretty good. A high temperature epoxy, possibly sold for this purpose, is worth looking for. Like lead solder they lose strength with heating before anything looks wrong, and the crack probably happened because expansion and contraction exerted forces on the metal.

  17. #17
    Banned








    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    munising Michigan
    Posts
    17,725
    Have it professionaly welded by a shop that knows cast welding. Jb weld and other epoxys might be a short term fix but I can about guarantee you it will raise its ugly head again.

  18. #18
    Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    SE Iowa
    Posts
    679
    we have a forktruck that had a cracked block that was fixed with belzona 20 years ago still going, no issues.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
    poppy42's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    1,563
    Here's the thing, although I have little experience with tractors, engine blocks are not cast iron they are cast steel. Cast iron is extremely brittle. If they were cast iron it would be extremely difficult to mill, tap, or perform any number of other machine processes on them. I have welded many a engine block with some pretty darn good results. Depending, as another member posted, were the crack is.
    Long, Wide, Deep, and Without Hesitation!

  20. #20
    Boolit Master sawinredneck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Wichita KS
    Posts
    778
    This threads about to get very interesting!

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check