2 questions, crack in block and holes in crankshaft.

[old31]

1: Do I have to worry about the hairline crack on each side of the stud?

2: Do those holes mean that my crankshaft is balanced? I have 2 holes in the back and 1 upfront?

crank1.jpg

[Marco Tahtaras]

Do those holes mean that my crankshaft is balanced? I have 2 holes in the back and 1 upfront?

Yes, those are from the factory balancing. The crankshafts were all balanced both statically and dynamically. Only three places seems unusual.

I can't advise on the crack.

[DaWizard]

Those cracks are from water jacket to water jacket and shouldn't give you trouble, and like Marco says, those are balance holes.

When installing the new studs you might want to add a bit of RTV to the threads just to insure no seepage of coolant up the threads.

[George Miller]

not sure about the cracks, it would not leak, but it has weekend the holding power of the threads.

[gdaquilina]

I was wondering about weakening the stud hold as well. I would have the block magna fluxed to try to see the extent of the visible cracks and if any other have developed in other areas of the block that cannot be seen. I believe there is another crack forming in the right adjacent area. Just having those cracks would be cause me to suspect the integrity of the block. My 2 cents.

[Mitch]

Get that stud out and investigate further, but personally I don’t like any cracks.

[George Miller]

unless it was original to that car, I would not put money in it, get a better block. You could probably stitch it and put one of those studs with a over size thread in the block. But why take a chance.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Another potential customer for Terry Burtz' new blocks when he gets them done and ready for sale.

[old31]

Any idea what the time frame is and the cost for Terrys blocks?

[gdaquilina]

There are plenty of good used blocks in the Model A community.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Any idea what the time frame is and the cost for Terrys blocks?

Unsure but his project is moving forward, it WILL become reality. It will have to be cast in China, we all know what the EPA police have done to mfg. in America (by design).At least it is sprouting legs, hey I've been told almost all the new auto mfg.'s crankshafts are cast and machined in China anyway have been for quite some time. Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, the whole lot. Even Scat crankshafts are being made there today.

That may change in the near future will probably go to like Vietnam.

[Russ/40]

I have to disagree with the alarmists on the crack. We all would like a crack free block, but if budget is a concern, the risk of any difficulty with that one is is about zero. MHO

[rheacox]

I have to disagree with the alarmists on the crack. We all would like a crack free block, but if budget is a concern, the risk of any difficulty with that one is is about zero. MHO

Are crack free blocks expensive? When I had my engine done the rebuilder swapped my cracked block for a crack free one that had been magnafluxed for $75.

[Kurt in NJ]

That crack can be a problem, take a straightedge and see how far up that area has been pulled, there can also be cracks at the outer edges of the deck inside if the area is pulled up

if it is still flat tighten that stud last

nice crack free cheap blocks can only be easily found when you aren't looking for them

[Dennis]

It looks to me that is the first one to get tightened if going by tightening sequence torque.

[Mitch]

I agree with the Alarmists on this one

[old31]

You are correct, but my guess is that Kurt is saying that to give strength to the area before pulling on that questionable stud.

[Kurt in NJ]

With that crack there's not much strength in that area, I would snug down the head in small steps, with the nearby nuts taken to final torque first to take strain off that area and use the head as support, I have a block with that area pulled up over .040, in looking inside with a mirror the inside cracks out by the cylinder walls can be seen, the cure in my eyes is to cut that area out and fit a large piece of new metal and stitch it in
if you reach in the oval hole a difference between original a blocks( they have X shaped reinforcements ribs) , and later production "diamond " block has none

if that hat area is lifted you will have trouble with gasket sealing in that area, by tightening that nut late in the sequence you will have the best chance of not lifting that area more

[George Miller]

The crack will keep on growing if you do not drill the end of the cracks. That will make a radius which will stop it from getting longer. If you chose not to the crack will keep getting longer. If I was going to use it which I would only do if it was original to that car. I would pin it with tapered cast iron plugs made for crack repair. You over lapp them half way. We used them a lot back when my Dad had engine rebuilding and auto repair shop.