Next time you have a broken block on your hands....

http://www.locknstitch.com/OMC_MarineEngine.htm

Pretty slick. There's no end to what can be found via the internet.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t

Do you think I would have any luck with this?

I don't know John, but I thought about you when I found that website!
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t

what the hell happened here?

Connecting rod number three let go with a little over 210,000 miles. It is a 1988 K block that came equipped with the 9mm connecting rods. I bought the car cheap for a project. I have a 1991 B230FT (with the 13mm connecting rods of course) to install in the car. There is another hole on the other side of the block, and of course, the broken connecting rod. See the crankshaft journal in the picture?

Reminds me of the time....
10+ years ago, helping out my very knowledgeable Volvo friend who now runs his own very successful used-Volvo shop- we're working on a Fiero. The idea was that the dealership would sell all kinds of cars at that time... not a great idea as it turned out. Anyway, the car ran but was pretty rough and weak. Up on the lift, noticed oil leaking and hmm, what's this? Fresh RTV all around the oil pan. So we removed the 32 different adapters, plates, accessory brackets and miscellaneous badly-engineered scrap metal surrounding GM's famous 2.5L "Iron Duke" in it's only mid-engine application....
and there's a clean shiny #3 crank journal. Where's the rod? Damn this oil pan's heavy! All the rod & bearing pieces are down in the sump, along with 1/2 of the piston. The other 1/2 is jammed up into the bottom of the bore, at a 45° angle, and the skirts are smashed off it. Everything is blued and banged up since lots of pieces were flying around in there. Just lovely!
Fortunately, we just happened to have a Citation that was stuffed in the trunk (1 wk before we got married!)... with a perfect 50K motor. But you ain't lived till you put an engine in a Fiero. What a wonderful car.
Makes me glad I drive a Volvo every time I have to work on something else.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

Oh ... my ... god.
We use some miracle stuff here at the mill I work in, called "Belzona", which is like JB Weld in 5-lb buckets.... it does work some wonders, but I don't know that I'd count on it to keep a big chunk like that from leaking. Those metal stitches do look like they keep it together, but I just have to wonder long term... if that's your boat engine, do you want to be 300 miles out with night falling.... counting on that repair with your life?
Hmmm. Perhaps automotive applications are a little less critical. I can't imagine any repair of a casting having any significant service life.

OTOH, a friend JB Welded his '65 VW bus crank back to the flywheel after both got chewed up, hammered out the mating dowels, etc.... he got 3 years out of it. Sometimes emergency repairs are just the trick.

All I can say is I'm glad my engine is reliable, and cheap to replace if it ever stops being so.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

i'd believe that those stitches work. I mean look at the size of engines those are being used on....if those aren't mission critical apps, i dont know what is

On the big Caterpillar engines we made all block repairs with Cat's two-part epoxy, and never had any problems. Of course the directions must be followed exactly.

Tim Coughlin in Arid-Zona, 90 740GL Wagon with 167K