Patch for cracked block?

[nekshot]

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?

[Hickory]

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.

[xs11jack]

Go to Old Tractor.com, I think thats the add. Lots of good advise t here.
Ole Jack

[varmintpopper]

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

[M-Tecs]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001446LKO/ref=psdcmw_15718921_t1_B001446LMW

https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Tex-Mighty-Repair-14-Ounce/dp/B001446LMW

[frankenfab]

Devcon has a metal filled epoxy.

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

[William Yanda]

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.

[country gent]

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.

[Traffer]

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.

[Traffer]

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/support/welding-how-to/Pages/welding-cast-iron-detail.aspx

[MaryB]

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.

[snuffer61]

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.

[lead-1]

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.

[Blanket]

http://www.belzona.com/en/products/1000/1111.aspx this is what you need

[nekshot]

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!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

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.

[Lloyd Smale]

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.

[Blanket]

we have a forktruck that had a cracked block that was fixed with belzona 20 years ago still going, no issues.

[poppy42]

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.

[sawinredneck]

This threads about to get very interesting!

[dkf]

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

What you are describing is metal stitching. There are tools and screws available to do the job right. For cast iron that is expected to go through heat cycles metal stitching is really the best repair you can do if you want it to last. Welding and brazing can often fail a lot of times around the weld/braze.

For a so so patch job JB Weld will hold for a while and is decent epoxy for the money.

[poppy42]

Wait before I get to badly made fun of I have to take my foot out of my mouth! Please disregard my earlier post as the ramblings of a complete moron! Sorry folks a clear cut case of someone putting his mouth in gear while his brain is in idol. of course some engine blocks are cast iron! I have to go crawl under a rock and hide now for being so stupid! And yes I really have welded many engine blocks.

[sawinredneck]

Ok, and now back to our regularly scheduled program. I feel more better now that that's cleared up.

[KCSO]

Years ago I had a kit to repair cracked blocks. There was a air operated mini hammer and threaded soft iron rod and a special epoxy. You threaded and hammered the glued rods in to the block and let cure. IIRR the kit was from Blackhawk tools a predecessor to Snap on. JB and soft iron threaded rod should work the same but you would have to rivet it in by hand.

[Soundguy]

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.



I rebuild antique tractors. Everything from farmall to ford, allis chalmers, john deere, Case, etc.

My every day mowing and hay moving tractors are 1955 models.

If the poster has a tractor he has had for years and has never had oil in the water, or water in the oil, but does see a jb weld block repair.. that tells me that it is only an external leak.

If it was mine.. i'd clean that junk off, wire wheel it, then braze it.

I've seen a farmall letter series with more brass on one side of the block than cast iron. A thrown rod put a picture window in it, and the guy actually brazed in a sheet of hammer formed brass, and probably used 10# of braze rod to fit it in. Last I saw it, it was driving around a show.

So.. iff'n it was me.. I'd braze or at least solder it...