Cracked engine block

[cub149]

Alright guys! Newly acquired ‘91 K1500 with 350 that has a bottom end knock. Found a 330HP Vortec 350 out of a boat for $500obo. Only problem is that it has 2 hairline cracks in the block. Besides doing a complete rebuild, I have 3 options:

1- Attemp to epoxy/JB-Weld the block
2- Swap all the internals, heads, etc to the current engine block
3- Keep looking

Any body ever have any success with epoxy/JB-Weld? What would you guys do?

 

[evilunclegrimace]

Find a competent welding shop and have them look at it. I have had several Caterpillar 3406 blocks welded and they ran another 100,000 miles without any issues.

 

[fancyTBI]

Attemp to epoxy/JB-Weld the block

Absolutely not.

Found a 330HP Vortec 350 out of a boat for $500obo

There are better options than a marine engine. Fresh or salt water? The Vortec swap is not a direct replacement, it does require a bit of work to get it ready for a TBI truck.

Keep looking

This would be my choice.

 

[cub149]

Absolutely not.

There are better options than a marine engine. Fresh or salt water? The Vortec swap is not a direct replacement, it does require a bit of work to get it ready for a TBI truck.

This would be my choice.

Seller is located in NE Pennsylvania so I would assume fresh water. I’m fine with doing some work. To your knowledge what work would need to be done to swap. Doesn’t need to be a turn key swap. I assumed there would be some differences. Also I’m not opposed to installing an electric choke carburetor instead of converting it to TBI

 

[RichLo]

Run away from that marine engine! A cracked marine engine means it wasn't winterized correctly and froze. Who knows what else has been neglected or what else bent/warped/cracked from that freeze.

 

[b454rat]

Get a new block....

 

[Schurkey]

Depending on the length of the crack, pin 'n' stitch repairs are viable.

There's an entire thread in the Sticky threads section of this forum for the hassles of cramming a Vortec engine into a TBI truck. It's more work than I was willing to do; especially with EGR and computer tuning.
www.gmt400.com/threads/how-to-put-a-vortec-motor-in-a-tbi-truck.49463/

How to Put a Vortec Motor in a TBI Truck

"Can I swap a Vortec motor in place of my TBI motor and does it just bolt in place?" Yes, you can swap a Vortec motor in place of a TBI motor, but no, it doesn't bolt in place. So, what does it take? Head and Intake Differences: The Vortec manifold has eight bolts, two on each corner, drilled...

www.gmt400.com

 

[Erik the Awful]

Keep looking. You can get a running 350 for less. My local Pull-A-Part is selling complete long blocks this weekend for $155.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

I've brazed engine blocks on farm tractors. You have to keep it plenty hot and cool it slowly so it doesn't crack while cooling.

 

[rebelyell]

Suggest don't waste your time and/or money attempting Permanent cracked block repair with any sort of epoxy.
Unless you have a buddy who'll do the repair work cheap AND professionally, suggest choose a different block.

retrofitting an iron-head Vortec motor with a different intake manifold + carburetor + another distributor is easy-peasy and relatively inexpensive.