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While in the process of freshening up the engine on my ’32 I found a big crack on the underside of my exhaust manifold. The crack went about 1/2 the way around but never made a sound so I had no idea there was a crack. I know brazing or welding was not the answer. Luckily I found a shop newar Buffalo that specializes in this kind of work. A little worried because the manifolds are hard to find. When I went to the shop for an estimate I felt much better. They were repairing a 12 cylinder Ferrari block that had 1/2 of the #1 cylinder and corner of the block blown off. A rare Porsche engine that ate a few rods, a Model T block and Fuelie ‘Vette block that had a bunch of cracks from freezing. The most impressive was a GE locomotive engine that had a 2’x2’ hole from a rod.
The first two pictures show how far the crack went.
Here is a picture after the repair. Once it is painted no one will ever see it. If anyone needs work done these guys are great. They even have a mobile crew that travels.
Metal Locking Service
216 Colgate Ave.
Buffalo NY 14220
716-824-4359
The process is drilling the crack and threading in a pin and the overlap and repeat.
Here is a photo of the GE locomotive engine they were repairing. Impressive
Jim,
Nice share. Now to find someone on the West Coast that does that kind of work.
How did you find them? Was it a google search for welding?
Thank you for sharing,
Ken
Ken- no welding in this process. Googled cast iron repair. If you need a repair you can ship to them with no worries. They had a lot of high end pieces there. They also have their mobile repair unit that will come to your place…that sounds expensive
I have used this method successfully on a couple different heads & cars. With the correct supplies, tools and patience almost anyone can do a solid repair this way with much less risk of side effects than welding.
Dave
If you want to see more of this kind of work, look up Reynolds-French in Tulsa on the internet. There are photos of some of their amazing repairs on their web page.
One of their retirees used to do this in his garage for hobbyists at a very reasonable cost.
I found this company in California that does metal stitching.
LOCK-N-STITCH Inc.
1015 S. Soderquist Rd., Turlock, CA 95380
Tel: 800-736-8261Fax: 209-632-1740
Email: [email protected]
They state that they supply all of the other companies
specializes in all aspects of the
Repair of cracked and
damaged cast iron
and other cast metals.
Very interesting.
Is it strong? or only cosmetic?
Thanks
Jim
I’ve used Lock-N-Stitch and was very happy with the results. Both cylinders in the EX valve port on a 1906 Tourist. Jim
Jim L,
That is good to hear. I have a head that I would like some work done on. It has a very small leak. How expensive are repairs?
Thank you,
Ken
This is an excellent method for repairing block cracks between the exhaust valve port and the cylinder. They use a pin material that expands at the same rate as the cast iron so that the repair stays tight through the heating and cooling cycles. I had my ’29 block successfully stitched.
Bill
Ken Arritt
pdxtigwelding.com they are in Portland,Or. Their video is the reason I tried the products from muggy weld with excellent results
muggyweld.com
hope this helps you
Ken, I highly recommend Lock-n-Stitch in Turlock, CA. About 15 years ago — !!! — a 2.5″ lock crack into cylinder, plus several small ones, cost me $600, which I found VERY reasonable.
The Lock-n-Stitch method is unique. The plugs have an inverse thread profile that pulls the crack together rather than wedging it apart, as tapered threads do when tightening them. I have a sample that is cut in two and the halves are held together by the plug when finger tight! They even sell kits for DIYs.
Stitching is a good day quaility repair. We have a local expert here who works wonders. Much better than welding. Experience is important. I wouldn’t trust an irreplaceable block or head to a novice. There was a guy at Hershey in the old days who cut a Ford V-8 in half, stitched it back together and had it running on the field. Old school still rules the day.
Ken,
I don’t remember the cost of the repair exactly but it didn’t matter in that case since the head and cyl are one piece and not available, there are only about 10 cars that exist. Between the repairs and the shipping both ways from Tucson I think it was just under $1000. Jim L
Thank you everyone for the feedback.
Ken
I have and currently use Lock & Stitch repair materials. Like Bob Koch said, they have a unique thread design that actually pulls a crack together as the repair plug is threaded into the prepared crack.
You can actually take a part that has cracked into two pieces, clamp it together, and start locking the crack together, when done, it is usually as serviceable as it was when original and one piece of metal. Just look at the huge locomotive engine crankcase the Jim Hytner posted a photo of, it was in two pieces.
Greg Long