5years and still in the garage, and ready to finish

[miller time]

Did the Machine shop check to see if block was good before they machined it?  Don't understand whats going on? Get the next block Magnafluxed. LEON.


P.S. A cracked freeze plug would not render a block useless?

apparently my machine shop wont magnaflux an entire block   
they said they checked it but since he told me NOT todo my freeze plugs, which i argued i had new ones, and he said the old ones dont leak, so dont do it, he talked me and i guess himself out of checking the broad sides of the block 
and apparently id wind up seriously cracking the block if i built it, plus $3400+ in part and $400 in machine work, i dont want to put it in a compromised block, since a new one only cost $300
P.S. i could dill a hole at the ends of the cracks grind a bevel the whole crack, and use a rose bud torch to heat the block while using a welding torch to melt an old piston ring into the bevel, but if you dont drill the end of the crack it just keeps cracking further as you weld, but then you have to worry about freeze plug fitting and sealing issues

[miller time]

I agree with Leon,  a cracked freeze plug or two (three or eight for that matter) shouldn't mean the block is ruined, in fact, that is what the freeze plug is designed to do, fail when water freezes inside the motor, to keep it from cracking the block itself.  I've had a chevy motor that lost a whole side of two piston walls when the freeze plugs didn't come out when they should have, and didn't break either.  (that was the last time i ever did a full engine swap, swore off doing it ever again, only now i should have mine removed and rebuilt) You should be able to have a shop tank the motor and clean out most of the passages, and magnaflux it, the only time you need to replace it is if the block itself is cracked or split open and it can't be repaired.  440s are pretty stout and can put up with a LOT of abuse and nature.  Mine's survived the same conditions that killed the camaro project (chevy motor mentioned above) the charger and 440 were sitting 5 feet in front of the camaro when one motor froze, and cracked, and the other did just fine.   

thanks for the body work advice, but i just sanded the sides and other bondo i had on her all down and scuffed everything, then i  epoxy primed the whole outside of the car, and used car color under the hood, trunk, package tray, door jams, in-side of doors, around windows, and thats how it will be for a while, ready for body work and paint, or driven in the rain, and everything else ive done, there is no rust on my car or anything thats going in my car, i just put the dash, steering column, brake pedal, master cylinder, and parking brake assembly in a few days ago, and im about to go through my front brakes a final time to check torques, but i have brand new, no name, drilled and cross slotted disc "racing" brakes on the front and massive drums on the rear, which are getting new wheel cylinders, when i have the $35 or however much for new ones, and im about to hang my doors and some other things in the next couple days
and the block cracked around the freeze plugs, 2 cracks going straight up, and one straight down on opposite sides of the block, off the center freeze plugs

[Back N Black]

This little part is a "core plug" not a "freeze plug". Under a certain (and rather unlikely) set of circumstances, the core plug might be dislodged by freezing coolant without otherwise damaging the engine. These plugs are simply used to close off a hole in the casting which was formed by a supporting arm of the sand "core" which was used to form the hollow cavities inside the engine block while molten iron was being poured into the sand mold. Thus the proper term "core plug". I have a couple of cracked blocks where the plug did not pop out.

[miller time]

This little part is a "core plug" not a "freeze plug". Under a certain (and rather unlikely) set of circumstances, the core plug might be dislodged by freezing coolant without otherwise damaging the engine. These plugs are simply used to close off a hole in the casting which was formed by a supporting arm of the sand "core" which was used to form the hollow cavities inside the engine block while molten iron was being poured into the sand mold. Thus the proper term "core plug". I have a couple of cracked blocks where the plug did not pop out.

yeah.. all "freeze plugs" are, are just the cheapest easiest way to plug holes needed for the casting process, freezeing has nothing todo with them, the whole popping out in winter thing was a fluke, but usually works to our advantage, so why change a good cheap thing, i bet has been said many times
but still ruined my block, so ill just call them CRAP

[miller time]

UpDate
Got the Dash in (used 2 nuts and bolts, 2 bolts on the sides and 4 or 5 self tapping screws in the center to hold the dash in) and almost done painting it, brake pedal and parking brake set up are in, the steering column is in and hooked up, everything is nice and painted
im tearing apart the brakes one last time to check the torque specs and mainly im putting all new wheel studs and lug nuts on the car, no more reverse thread lugs!
im about to put it the wiper transmission and then i can wire the dash and start getting crazy around here.

? Anyone know where and which brake distribution block i need? i have a new master and brake lines, new disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear, thanks.

[TUFCAT]

How about some pictures!

[miller time]

How about some pictures!

thats one of those things in 5 years ive never figured out how to do, ive tried and their too big and i can resize them in paint, i guess was the last suggestion
oh yeah i fixed my grill, like 7 of the mounting tabs snapped so i used plastic epoxy to make new tabs and drill new holes