So,,, we all know that the devil is in the details and that careful scrutiny can save us many headaches. I was checking ALL of the bolt holes and getting ready to chase the threads when I noticed some RTV at the bottom of this hole. So I dug it out and like a box of Cracker Jacks, it had a "SURprize" at the bottom.. Another hole! The casting was broken. Now, it had not leaked from 1990 until I tore it down 4 months ago. (( mom had a valve job done on it in the 80's while I was away with the Navy)) Figuring that the RTV kept it from leaking for as long as it did, I figure some judicious grinding and some JB Weld along with a stud will keep it for the rest of it's life. I'll detail the repair shortly...
I was fortunate when I did the 351W's preinspection. Everything was good with it. One thing I like to do with engine blocks that have bottoms to the head and main cap bolt holes is to insert a long, thin punch and lightly tap it with a ball peen. If it 'rings' (a pure tone, more or less), the metal's good and hopefully no cracks. Magnafluxing will, of course, confirm it. But I've had customers bring a shitty junkyard block for rebuild because theirs took a rod through the side, and I've found all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly problems and have to tell them to take it back and get another.
If you put pipe dope on a new stud and pack JB around it you will be able to remove the stud after the JB sets.
What Ribald said is true. Personally, I like to stack washers around the stud and put a nut on it until it cures, whether you use pipe dope or JB.
So this is one morning after that I won't wince at,,,,, After some grinding and cleaning, I flushed the area with some brake cleaner, installed a lubed up stud and then filled/coated the area with some JB Weld. A quick check this morning confirmed that it had worked.. ( The epoxy hardened up and the stud came back out easily! ) So this may not be the best fix for every situation, but it's always good to have options. ((I saw an old timer ( Hello Gabby!) repair a hole in the crank galley/water jacket (with JB Weld ) of his circle track car after it dropped a valve, he raced two more seasons on that block!)) pardon the dust in my pictures...
