George Cole

You're swatting a hornet's nest...around here that would be worse than parting it out or trying to restore it.

I don't get my panties in a wad over it...like some people on this forum do. We'll get back to mine when I've got something to add. Right now I'm making plans to pull the engine...figuring out how I'm going to lift the off hood by myself, etc.

Explain please. Exactly what is cam grinding pistons? Awesome engine by the way.

I googled cast iron C2 crack repair kit. I got a zillion hits on everything but. If you can send me a link, I'll order it.

I can't see any type of 'super glue' holding a torque of 65 ft lbs.

Sounds almost as good as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

No wonder your shoulder is f***ed up.

The face crack extends through the back of the block, angling toward the corner. It is 3/4-inch long on the back, which is the depth of the bolt hole. The crack is not evident around the corner of the block, into the side facing the valley. As the crack stops on the corner, there is no simple way to drill the end of the crack. I decided to try the lazy-man's fix, and see if I could drill the existing bolt hole deeper, as there is 8-inches of block below the bolt. I chose a 3/8-inch drill bit so it would center in what is left of the 7/16-inch threads. The drill went in about 1/4-inch, and punched through into a water jacket. So the possibility of drilling and tapping the hole deeper and using a longer bolt is not an option.

Crack Control. Crack Management. Cracks-R-Us. I got a better assessment of the crack today and took some better pictures. The crack is across the face of the block, extending on both sides of the bolt hole, as shown.

My back hurts from just looking at the pictures.

These older, lower compression engines most likely don't require Grade 8 hardware. But I live in a high, salt-air environment, 3 blocks from the ocean, and the Grade 8 is less prone to corrosion. And of course they're less apt to being twisted off, creating more problems.

Bucket and sponge every month or so with Turtle Wax soap. Hand wax with Meguirs whenever water no longer beads on the hood. Spot cleaning daily during love bug season using Bounce dryer sheets. Agreed. It's no longer enjoyable.

You are 100% correct. The lane warning lane correct features on my 2019 Escalade work about 10-15% of the time. That's an 85-90% failure rate. It's been in the shop 5 times and still not fixed. I've always been a stickler for using turn signals during lane changes, but since having the Escalade, I intentionally change lanes without signals just to verify that the %@$#*& system still doesn't work. For those unfamiliar with the system, if you drift about halfway into an adjoining lane, the steering wheel nudges back toward your original lane, and either a warning bell sounds or the driver's seat buzzes, depending on which setting is engaged.

I was thinking somewhat along this line, but for now I cannot determine the length of the crack. I started chipping the powder coating away, but even that's difficult with only 5" clearance between the block and firewall. And visibility isn't good looking at it through a mirror. Perhaps if I remove the floorboards, I can get better access from the interior of the car.

I agree that the all of the perimeter bolt holes appear to be too close to the edges of the block, but there's nothing I can do about that. There were a couple of studs in this (right) side of the block, but not in this particular hole, and none in the left side. In trying to put it back to some semblance of original, I wanted to go with bolts, not a mix of bolts and studs. Yes, I already figured I'm going to have to pull the engine as there's only 5-inches of clearance from the back of the block to the firewall. When I discovered stripped threads in multiple bolt holes, I cleaned each of the holes, vacuumed them, and did a 30 ft lb test torque on them all. This one in particular seemed okay at that time. Both heads previously had a mix-match of 2.75 and 3-inch bolts with no washers. Two of the holes in the right side block had been drilled out and retapped from 7/16-inch coarse thread to 1/2-inch fine thread. I replaced all of the head bolts with new Grade 8 2.75-inch ones with a Grade 8 flat washer...and then had several bottom out, so replaced those with 2.5-inch. I initially checked all the 2.75-inch bolts to make sure a 3-inch one didn't get slipped in by mistake. Again, the one that cracked didn't appear to be a problem although this was the first time a new bolt had been threaded into it. I remember reading the block stitching threads several months ago, but those articles were for larger cracks different than mine. I'll go back and look at them one more time. Thanks for the help, Greg.

Farther back in the thread I explained why I chose 65 ft lbs. Cole and Cadillac V8 engines were both made by Northway. Although I was unable to find specs for Coles, a 1922 Cadillac owner's manual states their heads are torqued to 65. Others including Kevin Fleck, the Cole Motor Car Registry owner, have torqued theirs to 65 as well, based on the Cadillac specs. So that was the torque I chose to use. However, it wouldn't have made any difference whether I was going to 50 or 65, as the block cracked before I reached 30. Thanks for the input.

The Mondays keep coming. This is like the 5th or 6th one this week. I made a bit of progress before hitting a stone wall again, so I'll begin with the good. I did a test torque to 30 ft lbs of all the head bolts on both sides. There was one stripped on the left side, and 3 on the right. I started with the easy one. I drilled, tapped, and put a Helicoil insert in the one stripped head bolt hole on the left side. Cleaned everything up, put a couple of drops of WD40 in each bolt hole, installed the head with a new gasket, and torqued all 17 head bolts to a 65 ft lb progressive (30, 50, 65,) torque. The first 2 pictures show the left side repair and the head installed. It went so well my arm was getting sore from patting myself on the back. The right side was more of a challenge. Of the 3 bad bolt holes, only one was semi-accessible with the tap. The other two required turning the tap a partial turn, then repositioning the handle for another partial turn. Finally got all 3 holes tapped and Helicoil inserts installed. I cleaned everything, oiled the bolt holes as I did to the left side, and installed the head with a new gasket. Began the torque sequence to 30 ft lbs. The last bolt to torque was the rear upper. As pressure began increasing on the torque wrench, I heard a snap and I could feel the pressure release. I stopped, removed all bolts, and pulled the head. I discovered the block around the rear upper bolt hole had cracked. I've been torqueing head bolts for 55 years and that's the first time I've ever cracked a block or even heard of a block cracking that way. The second 2 pictures are of the right side block showing the crack in the upper left corner.. I'm not sure this can be fixed. If it can, no doubt it will require the engine to be pulled and taken to a welding shop, as it's way beyond my welding capabilities. Welding the cast iron block will require heating it in an oven to approximately 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The question now is whether it can be fixed and if it can, will the engine have to be at least partially disassembled, as a minimum removing the rear pistons and valves. I'm going to take pictures to my local welding shop and discuss options with the owner/manager. It's as if this car does not want to be restored. Perhaps she had already given up and decided she was finally going to die a natural death, so now is refusing to cooperate in her own resurrection. If anyone has ever dealt with this issue before, I'm certainly open to suggestions. Thanks, George

Ed's version of an ice cream truck.

Anyone going to the Daytona Turkey Run, formerly known as the Spring Turkey Rod Run, or the Daytona Spring Spectacular. It's 26-28 March and takes the entire infield of the 2.5 mile Daytona Speedway. The spring meet historically has been a little smaller than the one held on Thanksgiving week, but with all the closures over the past year, it's expected to be better than ever. https://www.daytonabeach.com/event/spring-turkey-run-car-show/43214/

Hadn't thought of it that way, but you could be right. Stripping head bolt holes could very well be a show stopper for many good-intentioned people.

Increased price? Obviously doesn't want to sell very badly.

I typically have days with this project where I go 1 step forward and 2 backward. Yesterday topped that. I went 0 steps forward and 3 steps backward. My goal was to install the heads and torque them down. There are 17 bolts in each head. When I removed the heads I was surprised that a few of the bolts were torque-tight, but many were not much more than hand-tight. My assumption was that whoever had been installing the heads was interrupted in the middle of torqueing them and they were left that way. The existing head bolts were a mix-match of different types and styles of bolts, so I replaced all of them with new Grade 8 bolts. For a lack of any Cole torque specs, I planned to do a progressive torque to 65 ft-lbs, as called for in the 1922 Cadillac V8 maintenance manual. I got all the head bolts started on the right side. Some screwed most of the way in finger tight and some only part way and were quite tight after that. I snugged them all down and began with 30 ft-lbs from the center, to center-upper (which are also the coolant outlet bolts,) center lower, and discovered the right center lower threads were stripped. I went to the next bolt and found the hole was stripped as well. I stopped and removed all the bolts except for two, and went to the left side. I started all the bolts finger tight, then snugged with a socket wrench. I started at 30 ft-lbs again with the center, and the 2 upper (coolant outlet) bolts. One of them was stripped. I stopped and removed all but 2 bolts. My plan is to remove the heads, and use the old head gaskets to do a trial torque of all the bolts to determine if any more of the holes are stripped. I just ordered a 7/16-inch Helicoil thread repair kit and will repair all of the stripped holes before trying again.

Yeah. That's what I would say if I were trying to promote the EV false agenda. Another reason I don't do FecesBook. You believe your social media and I'll believe facts.

Needed a hard left rudder to straighten these out.

I had a similar problem with a Canadian purchase. The seller wanted an international bank check. I specifically asked for one at my credit union, but they gave me the wrong one. I didn't recognize the difference and sent it to the seller. The seller tried to cash it and couldn't. I had to send him another one right away, as he had other buyers wanting the part and he didn't want to wait to shuffle the checks back and forth. He eventually sent the first one back to me and I was able to return it to the bank and get a refund, but it took a couple of weeks for the dust to settle. It was over $450, so wasn't pocket change that I was playing with.