I have not received the parts yet. 

"Can I ask a stupid question?"

Well, it's been a month or so since my last post. I received all the parts from Mummert's and got the block and the heads back from the machine shop. I was taking the block out of the plastic bag tonight to start chasing all the holes and I noticed something odd looking. I hope that I am over reacting, because it appears that the casting is broken on the back. I know that it came back from the machine shop like that, because if it had broken during transit, the piece would still be in the bag. Also, it looks like the block has an even cleaning, indicating that it is not a fresh break. I went back and looked at the pictures that I had of the block prior to sending it to the machine shop. The only two that I have are of it on the engine stand, where it appears that the piece is missing. But, I can't tell for sure. I have a lot of money invested in this block. Please tell me that it is ok to build! 














"Can I ask a stupid question?"

Unfortunately, it is broken.  The break is pictured in pictures early in this thread.

My thought is that it will be ok for your build but you should get other opinions.  My biggest concern is the dowel for locating the bellhousing.  It needs to stay securely in place.  If it doesn't, the bellhousing can be out of alignment with the crankshaft centerline and that can cause clutch  or transmission problems.


Lawrenceville, GA

Yes it will run, however I would find a junk block and cut a chunk out and have it repaired, easiest way (and cheapest) is to cut the block with a hack saw and square it with files, then cut the patch to match (about a 2 hour job), find a good welder (ARC Welder) that knows how to weld cast iron with out heating the whole block, it's not hard just a pain in the ???, looks like the block was dropped,

I just went out and looked at the bellhousing, and it was definitely already broke. The one bellhousing bolt hole has grease all packed in it. It should have been clean if I would have removed a bolt from that hole. The dowel pin is in pretty tight. You can see that 2/3 of it is still covered with cast. I am not making a ton of horsepower with this engine, as it will just be for a cruiser. I'm wondering if it will be ok once everything is aligned and tightened back down. Then again, I have a lot of money in machine work to cut corners at this point. The machine shop I used is very reputable and builds a ton of big race engines. I'm wondering if they didn't think it was that big of deal?

"Can I ask a stupid question?"

Makes me wonder why the machine shop didn't ask if you wanted to continue work on a broken block first? At this point I would use it.

It's unfortunate that the block was dropped. Hopefully no other damage was done.  Those pins in the block locate the bell housing, There are large bolts as well. You have a lot of money invested in that block.  Test fit the bell housing on the block and make sure it will align correctly. Try using JB Weld to "glue" the pin into position.  If you clean all the surfaces, JB Weld should hold up for your purpose and you can make it look OK.  It's not a perfect fix, but it's worth a try.  The alternative is to source another bock and start over.

i wouldnt worry about it.good to go.

I don't see where you mention if you are going back with the three speed transmission that came with the engine or not.  If you are doing an automatic transmission, I don't see a problem with that missing piece on the bell-housing flange.  If you are going with a standard transmission, that missing piece is where the clutch pivot arm bracket bolts and that could prove to be a problem when bolting up the stock clutch linkage parts to the block.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks, Ted. I never thought about that. I was planning on going back with the 3 speed transmission so that I could utilize my existing column shift.



"Can I ask a stupid question?"