Flat head F1 eb
More Turbo
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 525
Likes: 57
From: Kenmore, NY
Yes, it can be repaired. I had a similar crack in my '51 V8 block and had it pinned during the engine rebuild.
Having it repaired depends upon what you want to do with the motor. Are you going to do a full teardown, bore the cylinders, and a complete rebuild? If so, pinning the crack and sleeving the cylinder added about $430.00 to the cost of my rebuild. Are you putting it back in a truck to use as a daily driver or a show truck, or are you wanting to soup up the engine? Keeping it stock will put little to no pressure on the repair; I would guess that a souped up engine might put too much pressure on it. If I had been souping mine up, I probably would have looked for another block; however, I added just a few HP with the cylinder boring and the 4 BBL carb.
If you are just wanting to drive it, with perhaps a maintenence go over (clean out the oil sludge, flush and clean out the water jackets, check everything over, repair and replace only as needed, etc), then I would look for another motor.
I did a lot of research before I decided to rebuild mine. Flathead 8 blocks in good uncracked condition are getting harder to come by. I read a number of stories of guys looking at multiple blocks to find 1 decent one. A block that would have been scrapped 10 years ago may be the best block available today. Keep that in mind as you make your decision. At the very least, even if you do replace the block, prep and properly store the cracked block, as it may be needed by someone some day.
Just my $.02.
John
Having it repaired depends upon what you want to do with the motor. Are you going to do a full teardown, bore the cylinders, and a complete rebuild? If so, pinning the crack and sleeving the cylinder added about $430.00 to the cost of my rebuild. Are you putting it back in a truck to use as a daily driver or a show truck, or are you wanting to soup up the engine? Keeping it stock will put little to no pressure on the repair; I would guess that a souped up engine might put too much pressure on it. If I had been souping mine up, I probably would have looked for another block; however, I added just a few HP with the cylinder boring and the 4 BBL carb.
If you are just wanting to drive it, with perhaps a maintenence go over (clean out the oil sludge, flush and clean out the water jackets, check everything over, repair and replace only as needed, etc), then I would look for another motor.
I did a lot of research before I decided to rebuild mine. Flathead 8 blocks in good uncracked condition are getting harder to come by. I read a number of stories of guys looking at multiple blocks to find 1 decent one. A block that would have been scrapped 10 years ago may be the best block available today. Keep that in mind as you make your decision. At the very least, even if you do replace the block, prep and properly store the cracked block, as it may be needed by someone some day.
Just my $.02.
John
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