Coolant leaking into 318 cylinder 8

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"...welll, what would Uncle Tony do..." - he'd pull the piston fill the crack with Harbor freight flux core weld then file it close and let the piston ring "finish hone" the repair...:)
 
replicaracer43 said:
Your doing the right thing. Those mid 80s 318 blocks are crap anyway. Almost every one I have looked at are cracked on the deck surface to those open head bolt holes. They are THIN. Sell off those cheap rebuilder .060 pistons and bore the replacement block the min required to clean up.
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That's good advice. I might do just that. I will see what my shop tells me when they scope it.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Won’t matter if he calls them or sues them. The laws on this were settled long ago.

The warranty is what it is and it’s in writing. Implied Consent law covers this too.

Obviously if he calls them and explains to them the circumstances they MIGHT, MAYBE, COULD help him out.

But I doubt it and it is worth a try.

I’ve questioned these warranties and called the lawyer that wrote out the warranty where I worked at the time and he told all of us the warranty was iron clad.

We got sued twice while I was there. Didn’t lose either.
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It depends on how nice the customer is.
I think calling is worth a try. The companies do not have to legally do anything, but sometimes they might help just a little bit.

I too doubt it, but sometimes we gotta roll the dice.
 
Ant said:
It depends on how nice the customer is.
I think calling is worth a try. The companies do not have to legally do anything, but sometimes they might help just a little bit.

I too doubt it, but sometimes we gotta roll the dice.
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I tried calling once and never got through. Problem is, they are 1K miles from me. Shipping alone is $200 one way for a short block. And when I say this is out of warranty, it sat for over 3 years wrapped in the shipping crate. Warranty expired in 2021. 100% my fault, but it is what it is.
 
thecatsfan said:
I am not saying you are wrong. I am saying, I don't want to play this game twice. And I am not a big fan of fool me twice. I really do appreciate your advice and perspective. The story is a lot longer with the entire project than I will bother you with.

I have a block from a running engine, and am already on my way down that path.
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Fair enough.

Sorry, messages did not load fast enough.
 
thecatsfan said:
Sleeving the engine is just as much work as a new block and similar cost. To sleeve the engine, I have to tear it down to completely bare. The shop will not touch it otherwise. The shop will have to sleeve it, bore it, hone it, check adjacent cylinders, redeck the block. I already talked to the shop about it, and they said I am looking at minimal cost difference.
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WTF?? Ok what are they charging for the install and the sleeve?

It should be 225 or less. No way can you machine a block for 225 bucks.

I’ve set literally hundreds if not into the thousands of sleeves. I had to set sleeves in a TA block. All eight. When I quit racing I sold that block because I had two X blocks. I sold it to a guy doing a 70 TA clone.

A sleeve is the simplest, cheapest fix. If you have a machinist who isn’t comfortable sleeving a block find a new one.

If he can’t bore a hole to size he’s not a machinist. He’s a poser.
 
thecatsfan said:
That's good advice. I might do just that. I will see what my shop tells me when they scope it.
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Yeah, somehow I missed it was a late block.

I agree with Replicar that those blocks aren’t worth fixing. I missed the late block part somehow.

I’m onboard with the new block plan. That block wasn’t worth the original machine work. I get that’s what you had do you use it

I’d look for an older 318 block but even those are drying up.
 
thecatsfan said:
I tried calling once and never got through. Problem is, they are 1K miles from me. Shipping alone is $200 one way for a short block. And when I say this is out of warranty, it sat for over 3 years wrapped in the shipping crate. Warranty expired in 2021. 100% my fault, but it is what it is.
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Imagine you are them, a business out to make a profit . They honor the warranty till 2021 its 2024. Yes the engine sat for 3 years and they wouldn't say you are lying but, they don't know if you are telling the truth. Maybe the engine sat with water in the water jackets and it froze etc. They just don't know. Maybe they'll be nice and rectify it but ,they don't have to... at that point they would be "being nice" Being nice cuts into profits if a business does it every time they honor a warranty that has expired. Its another point of view. A 318 LA block is attainable , disassemble the innards and have the machine shop machine in the piston to bore clearance and reassemble.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
Imagine you are them, a business out to make a profit . They honor the warranty till 2021 its 2024. Yes the engine sat for 3 years and they wouldn't say you are lying but, they don't know if you are telling the truth. Maybe the engine sat with water in the water jackets and it froze etc. They just don't know. Maybe they'll be nice and rectify it but ,they don't have to... at that point they would be "being nice" Being nice cuts into profits if a business does it every time they honor a warranty that has expired. Its another point of view. A 318 LA block is attainable , disassemble the innards and have the machine shop machine in the piston to bore clearance and reassemble.
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Exactly. I already have another block torn down and ready to machine.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
WTF?? Ok what are they charging for the install and the sleeve?

It should be 225 or less. No way can you machine a block for 225 bucks.

I’ve set literally hundreds if not into the thousands of sleeves. I had to set sleeves in a TA block. All eight. When I quit racing I sold that block because I had two X blocks. I sold it to a guy doing a 70 TA clone.

A sleeve is the simplest, cheapest fix. If you have a machinist who isn’t comfortable sleeving a block find a new one.

If he can’t bore a hole to size he’s not a machinist. He’s a poser.
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My shop will machine the entire block for a little over $500 and that includes some of the new bearings I will need. To sleeve one cylinder is less than $200. But they cannot just sleeve it and walk away. They have to check adjacent cylinders for distortion, and they have to redeck the block after it is sleeved. Probably will come out closer to $300 when finished. And I don't know that I should trust the block.

I am over $7K into this engine bay already. Not going to shortcut it for a couple hundred bucks.
 
thecatsfan said:
Exactly. I already have another block torn down and ready to machine.
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I have a similar story. I had bought a clutch pressure plate and installed it in my car years before I ever took it down the road. I got my car running and had a bad vibration sitting still revving it up to about 2500-3000. I went trhough a process of elimination even fell for the "its the engine it isnt balanced " BS pulled the 340 installed a 318...still there, balanced the flywheel on a tire machine that heavy chunk of metal spun 0. it ended up being the pressure plate. I spent some money figuring that out but it was the same :"gee i bought that 5 years ago I cant take it back saying its a bad part" even though it was...:)
 
thecatsfan said:
My shop will machine the entire block for a little over $500 and that includes some of the new bearings I will need. To sleeve one cylinder is less than $200. But they cannot just sleeve it and walk away. They have to check adjacent cylinders for distortion, and they have to redeck the block after it is sleeved. Probably will come out closer to $300 when finished. And I don't know that I should trust the block.

I am over $7K into this engine bay already. Not going to shortcut it for a couple hundred bucks.
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Like I said, I agree with a new block. Your block wasn’t a good block to start with.

To that end, if that shop can’t set a sleeve without moving other bores around find a new shop.

A sleeve is so simple that to make a big deal out of it it’s nuts.

Stop coupon clipping and find a real shop with with actual machinist.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Like I said, I agree with a new block. Your block wasn’t a good block to start with.

To that end, if that shop can’t set a sleeve without moving other bores around find a new shop.

A sleeve is so simple that to make a big deal out of it it’s nuts.

Stop coupon clipping and find a real shop with with actual machinist.
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There is absolutely no point in sleeving an LA 318 block. They are still plentiful... they made millions of them. People on here give them away free from time to time.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Like I said, I agree with a new block. Your block wasn’t a good block to start with.

To that end, if that shop can’t set a sleeve without moving other bores around find a new shop.

A sleeve is so simple that to make a big deal out of it it’s nuts.

Stop coupon clipping and find a real shop with with actual machinist.
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They are the best shop in the region. This block is already bored thin. Any shop who would not at least verify adjacent cylinders after doing a sleeve, I would not take anything to. And the other work is the proper way to do it. Any shop that does not redeck after sleeving, I would also not trust.

If I were cheap, I would sleeve the block. That is the cheap solution.

I did not get to choose my block when I ordered this remanned engine. They did. I already found a 1967 block that was pulled running, and have it torn down to rework. It is the right way to go.
 
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