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Author Topic: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block  (Read 3674 times)

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Offline stony

Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« on: July 18, 2018, 10:14:19 PM »
Hey boys and girl, time for a new what the heck is he thinking project.  So it is about time to get my 3A on the road, which means an engine rebuild.  Problem is the engine froze and cracked about 35 years ago and I figure it is about time to get it fixed.  Have done a bunch of research and it looks Like I have three options.  #1:  J B Weld and crossed fingers.  Could vee out the crack drill the ends and put on a fiberglass reinforced patch.  Cheapest and easiest but it is a good sized crack and the patch could fail at the worst possible time (anytime I am driving it).  #2:  super metal filled epoxy, either Devcon titanium or Belzona 1111.  Cost about $200 for 500 gram (1 lb) plus cloth for reinforcing.  This would be a good permanent fix but kinda ugly.  #3:  Lock-n-Stitch metal pins.  I picked this one because I have total confidence in it and once painted should be invisable.  I also liked the technical challenge.  Unfortunately by far the most expensive, about $460 for the pins and special tools needed.  The kit arrived today, so I hope to start on it tomorrow.  About 12 inches total of crack, so will take about 60 CA pins.  Photos coming.
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2018, 10:39:00 PM »
This is what the crack looks like
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2018, 10:41:28 PM »
I used dye crack detection kit to clearly see the crack.
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2018, 10:51:14 PM »
And finally outlined where the pins need to go.  The block is about 1/4 inch thick where the repair is being made.  The curved crack was raised a bit, so I used the � double hammer method� to flatten it.  Basically you take two big hammers and lay one on its side over the raised part of the crack and wack the crap out of it with the other.  Brian fron LnS said to wack it as hard as you like and don�t worry, believe it or not it worked.  Flattened it out, not perfect but better.  If this were not the original block I might have gone with one of the new manufactured castings.  Have a feeling there is not going to be a big cost savings in the long run[ch128540].
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline specialty

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2018, 03:55:50 AM »
Good luck on your repair. I had a small crack or more like a imperfection on the rear of my cylinder head that would ooze coolant that i ground out and used JB Weld and its held good. Stopped the leak. Also used it on a cracked case of a 4 wheeler and its still holding today and that was a bad oil leak. Trick is to get it clean and scratched good for the stuff to get a good grip on. Your method is probably much better. Hope it does the job for you.
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Offline athawk11

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Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2018, 11:10:39 AM »
I've look forward to your progress updates.

Good Luck.

Tim
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Offline squidtone

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Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2018, 12:27:59 PM »
Awesome detailed pictures and description. I also am looking forward to updates.
Question: when drilling for each pin, do you drill all the way through the casting into the jacket?
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Dave Miles
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Offline specialty

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2018, 01:01:38 PM »
step by step details would be great.
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Offline 1955CJ-5

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Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2018, 04:11:37 PM »
I've heard about this and had it explained to me, but it sure would be great to see pictures....!

Randy
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1955 CJ-5, A friend for 58 years....1951 CJ-3A, a new addition. 1929 Model A Ford Closed Cab Pickup...

Offline mtnman37879

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Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2018, 05:37:13 PM »
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Online Bob W

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2018, 06:09:19 PM »
Thanks for posting this! I'm looking forward to seeing your successful results.
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Bob W

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2018, 06:28:24 PM »
OK good news and bad news, get to the bad news later.� Drilled holes for the two major cracks, here is the upper crack with the first set of pins ground off, the second in place and the bottom holes drilled ( yeah the block is on its side).
« Last Edit: July 19, 2018, 08:22:58 PM by stonyloam »
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2018, 06:33:00 PM »
Here is the bottom crack spotfaced tapped and some of the pins installed (watch the video that mtman linked to)
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline stony

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #13 on: July 19, 2018, 07:03:03 PM »
OK now for the bad news, I managed to break the teeth on the special (and very expensive) tap.  I think I may have hit a piece of hard junk in one of the holes and jammed the teeth and it broke when I backed it out.  New one should be here in a few days.  I think the key will be going very slowly and backing the tap to clean the threads often.  Just a matter of taking it really easy, should be OK.  This is as far as I have gotten, just need to tap the last of the bottom holes, then start on the last crack.  Here are the tools, spacer, spot facer and stop and tap[ch128546].  Pretty cool system, unfortunately pretty expensive too.  I must say that when it is done and painted it will be pretty much invisable.
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Terry
1949 CJ3A 11159 body 11225 engine 11140
On preservation vs. restoration:Roscoe Lee Brown "the Cowboys" when he met the whores on the trail:"Well, I have the inclination, but not the time”.

Offline specialty

Re: Lock-N-Stitch cracked block
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2018, 09:56:28 PM »
looks good. Have a question though. How does this seal the crack? Is epoxy still needed to seal from leaks and the pins for strength?
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