Cracked block

Jon, An old Model T buddy of mine who became addicted to building Model T race cars recently showed me a Frontenac head worth in excess of $4000 that was freezetrashed and given up on. It was missing a large chunk of cast iron on the water jacket and had been repaired by a company called D&R Head and Casting here in Denver 303-458-0232. I can't describe how perfect the repair was. We were racing at a vintage racing event and he drove this car as hard and fast as it was ever run in the 1920s with complete reliability. I was a welder for fourteen years, and repaired a lot of cast iron in that time, but never came close to these guys. Give them a call.

Curt

Hi M

Thanks for attaching the pictures of the Cord block. My crack is along the top, just at I thought by looking at your pictures, the crack runs along the bottom of the deck for about 10 inches. One thing your pictures show is how thick the casting is in that area, looks like plenty to stitch. I am now somewhat on the fence as to stitch it or first try a stop leak in it. At this point it is only just a slow weep and I have not added ant coolant to it, the car has now traveled about 170 miles.

Jon

Luckily, the lines that appear to be cracks or fractures in the cylinder walls are actually sand casting lines. The block was hot tanked and acid washed prior to the repair leaving these lines very noticeable as well as the white ashy look when it was dried. If you examine a Cord block inside and out, you'll see plenty of these lines which at first glance appear to be cracks vs. mold marks.

If you have a chance, take a look at the block crack repair video on the Stitch-N-Lock website. It will give you a better feel of just what an elegant repair solution this can be. Their method is slightly different than the one shown here but, the overall concept is identical.

Mark~
What a fantastic block repair ~~~
This has to be one of the most complicated, & best block casting repairs, I have ever seen !

In your photos am I also seeing two badly cracked center cylinder barrel castings in that same block ?

If so~~~
How were these cracked cylnders repaired ?
Were new cylinder sleeve liners just pressed in after boring the diameter slightly oversize in the cylinder casting bore; and the cracks just left as seen ?
Were the cracks brazed ?

Or~~~
Did you use some other crack repair method in this cylinder wall area ?

Thank's
BRAD~

Mark, it is great to know that your meticulous Cord rebuilding extends to engines and mechanical parts, even beyond your incredible bodies!

Hello:

Here is a bit more detail; The area is first prepped by magna-fluxing the affect zone to determine the extent of the cracking or fractures. If you look at the second picture, you will see a red outline which was drawn at the farthest extent of the damage. The next step was to use a cutting wheel to open up the square back to virgin unaffected material. The next step was to find a piece of compatible patch material for the block since the original was on lost in 1946 on Route 66 somewhere. In my case, I was lucky enough to have had a steel plate that was made up by the Cord genius, the late Jim Howell. Jim had made up large cast plates which even included the nipple for the drain petcock. This plate was then scribed exactly to fit my prepared window almost on an interference basis. The next job was to drill a hole at the center of the seam and begin the process of drilling and overlapping pins made of the same material as the patch/block to eventually follow the complete outline of the plate seam. As EL said, it's not a job you can do leaning over a fender upside down. It has to be done while the engine is apart and in a very stable stand. The more time you take, the better the repair will look in the end. All in all, it is the perfect fix for engine blocks that don't do well being rapidly heated and cooled in the welding process. So many of these blocks were scrapped after improper fixes or just because they appeared to be hopelessly broken. This process does present a practical second chance. I hope this helps.

Mark

Great pictures and information... Thanks to all!

Mark, once the block was prepared, was "donor" metal inserted then drilled and stitched? Perhaps you could comment a bit more on how this was done. I can't even detect that stitching was done from the photo.

Hi,

I stand in awe of this repair. I have to admit, if the block in my 810 were similarly cracked, I would have been considering a modern engine/drivetrain swap.

Thank you for showing what can be done with proper technology and drive.

--Tom

Great pics and NICELY done!

Hi Folks:

Here is a supercharged block that was damaged years ago by frost. You can see the first picture showing the damage that the break was fairly major but contained in the open area of the water jacket. The second picture shows the prep we did to square up the hole and lastly, the newly "stitched" area after grinding and rotary filing. It's an incredible process that is water tight by design and can be cosmetically undetectable. Be prepared for a $1,500 to $2,000 bill for a repair of this size if you send it out to a qualified shop. With SC blocks being virtually unavailable, those sorts of numbers will eventually seem quite reasonable. This particular block was sent out after to be Wheelabrated and then went on to a .030 over rebuild and balancing that should last well into the next millennium.

M

pac32 wrote: Are there any manuals out there that tell how to remove the engine and transaxel? I am especially interested in information on how to disconnect the front axels from the unit.

You should have been in Auburn this year to see the process live. You could have watched my Phaeton engine pulled in less than 90-minutes.







George Arakelian just had my engine block repaired by stictching. Where it was too hard to be drilled, they soldered in bronze I believe. The block was then pressured up and it is just fine.

Jon~
See my various crack repair discussions on your other Cord forum thread & posting.
Thank's

Thanks Henry

It?s people like you that have a wealth of knowledge to share that keep the cars on the road.

Jon

Jon, I believe the easiest way to remove , reinstall & align the hood is to remove the glove boxes. This allows easy access to the four screws at the
hood hinges & an easy way to align the hood when reinstalling it . It also helps to make four alignment studs from matching threaded stock about 1 1/4"long with a screwdriver slot on one end . The studs can be placed
in the hood before it is set on the car & then used to align with the hinges.
Then lift the hinge, install nuts & then tighten after aligning the hood.
Remove the studs one at a time & replace with the screws & lock washers.
Replace the boxes. Works for me. Henry
OOPS, I slipped! The hinge drain boxes also need to be removed , sorry
about that! H

I have talked with an engine rebuilder that I have used on other antique engines over the past 20 years ( I trust him). He has worked with a gentlemen who specializes in crack repair, has done work on Cord blocks and even a J Duesenberg, he feels the block is definitely repairable with stitching. At this point the block is only weeping coolant. I have driven it about 60 miles in the past 2 days and probably lost an ounce of coolant.

I ordered from ACD club the Transmission manual and from ACD museum the service manual today.

My plan is still to pull the engine and let a professional repair the crack, don?t wont to mess up a cord engine block.

Is there a secret on removing the hood on a 812? Or do I have to crawl under and undo the 4 bolts?

I am not very happy with the outfit that sold me the car, without disclosing this problem. This was probably the reason the owner brokered the car, lucky me.

Jon

See web site locknstitch.com

I had some experience with repairs of Cast iron Heads. Please do your self a favor and don't try a cheap repair it's not worth messing up a block that could be repaired properly. A re-repair is difficult. you need to strip the block and get is MAGNAFLUXED to see where and how long / deep the crack is, then get is to a professional castiron-welder, which will sand a V-shaped groove and heat up the block for 24 hours, then weld it and then let it cool for 24 hours. This way you can be sure, there is no more stress in the material. On the other hand if you want to risk and drive like this; clean and degrease well and then cover the crack with 2 K quicksteel. This will last until December and is easy to remove...... good luck, Philipp

Jon,

I would follow EL's advice.

Mike

block stitching requires precision drilling and overlapping the holes.
I don't think it can be done in the car.
Also, I. ran into a problem where the block is so hard in some areas that drilling is impossible.This hardness is most likely due to improper cooling of the block during the casting process

Jon,

From the following link, you will find the Cord Transmission manual. It contains some valuable information including some disassembly information.

www.shop.phpstack-1081784-3880776.cloudwaysapps.com/category.sc ... egoryId=10

A right angle drill might also help with your repair task as well as removing the fender and fender apron.

I did not think there would be enough room to drill straight into the block, but I have not started the disassembly yet. I would still like to drive it a bit to learn it and debug some other minor issues. I don?t plan top star the disassembly until December, at that time if it?s feasible I will try your suggestion.

I would appreciate any suggestions as to what service manuals I could buy that would be helpful in this project.

Jon

Why not try stiching the block with the engine installed in the car ? Once you get the grill (fence) off, the rad out and the steering box removed, you might just have enough room to work in. You don't loose by trying this as you need to get the fence and rad out to pull the engine and trans anyway. Rmoving the master cylinder and mounting bracket will give you room when working from below.

I've never tried this, it's just a thought.

I am a new owner of a 37 812 (see previous post). I put the car on a lift yesterday and found I had purchased a Cord with a cracked block. The crack is on the drivers side just below the head running parallel to the head and about 10 inches long at this time it is weeping coolant. Looks like I will be pulling the engine and stitching the block.

Are there any manuals out there that tell how to remove the engine and transaxel? I am especially interested in information on how to disconnect the front axels from the unit.

If I figure out how to do it I will post a picture of the crack.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

Jon