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It is amazing sometimes how much trouble they went through at the factory to repair a block with a casting flaw. This 1965 289 was completely original when it came in the shop and check out what one of the main saddles looks like after hot tanking. It looks like they welded it up and sent it down the line.
I know a good welder can save you a ton of money, but I would not use that block. Not saying you can't, I just would not. Just like a totaled car, I would never own one.
The block is out of a '65 Fairlane and it has been doing fine for all those years it still had bearings with 3-65 date codes. From what I can tell at the factory they must have spray welded that area before machining. I've seen that other times on cylinder heads, China walls, pan rails but probably not a main saddle.
The proof is in the pudding, but I still would not use it. I can't argue that it's going to break. I would be an idiot if I did. I was 4 when that block was made, you can't argue that it won't work. One thing for certain, you can't say it won't work.
Also it is just a stock 289 engine that's not being used for racing or any real performance. It is just amazing to me that the factory went through that much trouble to save the block. I had an AMC 360 block out of a Jeep one time where you could see where the main line bore had been corrected. It looked like the boring tool had some kind of a problem and dug in. I could see where the caps had been trimmed and the block had been line honed. All factory.
There are a lot of tricks to getting a good weld that will be stronger that the base metal. Each metal type has different processes that you need to go through to achieve that, including a good cleaning, the correct welding process, proper filler metal, proper preheat and post heat, a well trained welder..... When I was in the military, a couple of airmen came into our shop and asked one of our buck sergeants if we could weld up a 426 Hemi block that they had found in the junk yard. One of the cylinders had been split clear up the side. We just laughed at them, not only because it would have been a court martial offense for us to do so, but because we felt it would be foolish to trust a block that had been repaired in that location. I still wouldn't trust a weld repair in that location for any motor, but with the right equipment, a weld repair on cast iron should hold up well.
I've seen a little of your TIG welding. You do pretty well for someone who hasn't been formally trained in welding. The fact that you know to purge your welds and keep your color when welding shows that you aren't the Butcher that you think you are.
I'm progressing on my headers and you should see the welds now. As I mentioned before, I am a better grinder than welder. I'll update my header thread someday.
My welds might look good because of the diffusion filter on my camera.
I would agree with you but I've seen enough welding repairs and when you machine the area welded, it looks exactly like that. I too would think they would just send it back to be melted again, but working at the dealership for 30+ years, the factory never asked me my opinion.
I assume that even though Ford was casting 289 blocks by the thousands they still had a fair amount invested in each casting so it was worth it to have some people at the factory to fix that sort of thing. I wonder when the flaw was discovered? Right away or partially though production machining?
Nobody knows, but I bet it was with the first inspection. They did not have computers and robots back then so I bet there were plenty of people looking for problems.
