This weekend I picked up a 430 in the yard out of a 68 Riv GS. No carb on the motor, and the car has been sitting back there for over 20 years. Got the engine home, and turned it with a breaker bar with minimal effort. After dissasembly, I was amazed to find an almost NOS condition STD crank, perfect cylinder walls, and a spotless internals, and even has the original cross hatch in the cylinders. Seems the engine lost its timing chain 20+ years ago, and thats why it ended up there for sure. Can't bleive after all the elements and years, and mice etc, that the inside of this engine could look this nice. I am going to get away with a re-ring on a 42 year old 430. Jon
Sad news last night.... although the block is in remarkable condition, I found an 8" crack in a water jacket. The block must have had water in it and froze at one point. o No: Its gonna break my heart seeing such a wonderful piece of Buick HP get dropped off into the block pile at the yard. This blows! Oh well, I got a good crank and a set of 430 heads which flow better and have higher compression. I will just put that stuff in the 455 I have sitting here. Jon
I bet it was perfect when it was parked, other than the timing chain.... bummer.... Guess I could use the block as weight for the back of my tractor this winter....
Darn - Freeze cracks aren't too uncommon on engines which are exposed to cold and sit for years. The antifreeze that was in it at one time either leaks out or breaks down. Sometimes cracks can be tough to see until the engine is out of the car and cleaned up a bit. Odd the cylinders still had the crosshatch pattern. It must have had a recent rebuild before it died. Look at the bright side - scrap prices have been slowly climbing.
You can fix the crack with nickel filler, but I dont know how distorted the rest of the block might be.
We salvaged a Chevy 427 that had a puncture in the water jacket using JB Weld. The car is still going strong 17 years later.
I'd take a chance and drill 1/8" holes at the ends of the crack to keep the crack from spreading. then either JB weld it or braze it up. (I like brazing but depending on where it is i'd be worried about warping it.) EDIT: could you block fill it?
