Does anybody have an idea on fixing a cracked starter bolt hole on the block? I have been having problems with my starter grinding and thought it was only a shim problem. When I inspected it more, I found then outside hole of block where starter mounts was cracked. Can this be welded? Is there a bracket that would alleviate welding and just reenforce the hole?
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

The problem with cast iron is that once it starts to crack, the crack tends to propagate fairly easily. Getting the crack to stop is the hard part. If there is a thick boss or widening of the part, the crack might stop on its own.

I personally have never had much luck getting cast iron welded - without fairly elaborate welding procedures. It's difficult to weld, and not either propagate the existing crack, or end up with new cracks due to differential temperature. Proper welding of cast iron requires careful control of temperatures before, during and after the welding is done. I think for anyone to guarantee the work, they'd want to have a bare block, pre-heat it in an oven to get a uniform temperature, do the weld, then put it back in the oven to cool the whole block at the same rate. The crack is usually ground out with a Vee groove, and often the end of the crack is eliminated by drilling a hole at the tip of the crack. This removes the fine, leading edge of the crack - that will propagate. The hole is then filled in with weld material.
For the cost of a small block core, you might be better off getting one from the junk yard and transferring your internals to it.

All that being said, I see two options you might want to try. One is a helicoil. Depending on where the crack is, and whether it’s likely to propagate further, you might be able to strengthen the hole with a helicoil. The helicoils are actually designed to fix stripped threads, but it might work here.
The second option would be to take it to someone who does cast welding & see if they'll take it on. I know people who have got lucky with cast welding - but don't be too surprised if block cracks on either side of the new weld material or the original crack comes back.

One other possible - There are epoxies for repairing metal. Some of these are amazing. Not sure who supplies them, but if you can get the surfaces REALLY CLEAN, and force some of the epoxy into the crack, this just might work. You can build up on the surface of the block over the crack to reinforce the block.

Not very cheery news, but hopefully it helps.

Wes

Also be sure put a starter to block brace on the end of it. This will take a great deal of pressure off the two bolts.

Thanks for the info. Can't swap to another engine block, not big on welding either. I am going to investigate a little further and maybe see if I can make a support bracket that incorporates the third hole not used for another type of starter. I would then have three points where the starter is attached. Either that, or purchase a smaller, high torque starter and see if their tolerances don't allow this kind of play. The crack on my outer mount hole is not vertical as I can tell, and mostly the corner of the hole. Thanks again

I hate to say it but... Why not drill through with the body drill (7/16") and use a longer bolt with a locking nut? :rolleyes: A guy at work did it. Not my way to fix something but what have you got to loose? Get that front support a your friendly Chevy dealer.

Thanks All,
THink I got is right now. Had the front support brace already, but it was loose. I also made a shim that extended from out hole to spare hole on block. Tied the two together, torqued starter down, all is good.
THanks again
graemlins/beers.gif

I am having a similar problem with my 400 small block. After numerous starts back to back (fixing a fueling problem) the starter started to grind. I found out that one of the bolts is stripped in the block, this caused the starter to loosten and move. I had got it back in with some washers, but later that day, while trying to start the car, it blew that bolt out of the block, and the threads on the bolt are fine.

What can I do to fix this, helicoil?
Or where can I find a brace, as spoke of above?

Thanks.

Hello?

the 396 for my car has a cracked outside ear, took it to my local machine shop and he said he's done 100's of them without failure yet. They braise the crack with copper or brass weld rod and supposedly it works, we'll find out when I strap a starter onto the thing.

good luck