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Cracks in Alpine blocks

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Jedi Trainee
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Hello to everyone, I'm not a Sumbeam person, but a friend races an Alpine in vintage events. He was in the process of rebuilding his engine when he discovered a crack on his block about six inches long towards the base of the water jacket where it flares out. The crack appears to pass through a threaded hole I'm guessing for a drain plug. He then decided to try another 1600 block off a parts car and found a similar crack. Was this just bad luck or is it a common problem and does it lead to bigger problems later? Thanks.
 
Not common as far as I've seen, and I've had Sunbeams for 30+ years. It can happen though if the engine's been abused or allowed to freeze when no coolant's mixed into the water.
 
When I was going to rebuild the 1592 the block was
magna fluxed and a minute crack like maybe as big and deep as 1 inch long hair was found.It was not in the water passages or any pressure areas.Machine shop said it would be OK as it might have been in the casting but recommended JB weld.To make it a short storey I scratched it a hair deeper with a carbide scraper,washed it with laquer thinners and apllied 2 coats of JB weld.That was almost 20 years ago.I guess the machine shop was right as the motor is still perfect.
 
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