Would you trust this Block??

Would you guys trust this block? I can buy it fairly reasonable and even tough it seems to be a 78 dated block they said its a forged crank, judging by the other pics he sent the counterweights don't seem to have casting marks and looks like forged crank...BUT the block has a repair done down and across a freeze plug hole, he said a shop did it, the pic looks decent but new paint can hide alot. What do you think, worth messing with or not? Thanks

Pass and get another one, while it's probably fine for most street builds, 440 blocks are not that hard to find and later year castings are not that expensive. Why risk building an expensive house on a sand foundation for no good reason?

there's alot of blocks around in the mid 70's...cast damper would be a thicker one than forged and I "think 73 was the last year for forged....BUT....I see no issue with a cast crank for street and occasional track

I bought the orginal 400 motor out of a 1976 3/4 ton pickup that was a 4 speed 4WHD that had spun a rod bearing, it had a thin dampener and a forged steel crankshaft in it Maybe that 440 was in a stick shift vechicle

Have the block X-rayed...

If the repair was done properly, I'd have no problem running it...


Seen much worse...

Might be a big mistake $$ wise. And myself, I would always wonder ???

First off whats "a reasonable price"? second whats special about this block that your looking at it in the first place? All machine work done? or needs every thing? Yes I would trust and have had a block welded in that very spot. But I owned it already. There are a lot of 440 blocks out there to chose from. Gotta have a plan and a budget . as for the crank well... with out seeing it my self I can't tell you. Good luck

Well pretty much its about cost, the price is $150 for block caps and crank. Really nothing at all special about it, just seemed cheap and my 440 in my truck is getting tired.I figured maybe I'd grab this and build another motor for it. No HP build for sure, more of a towing cam and bigger springs and that's about it pretty much stock build.

not worth the risk when it's fairly easy to find a 440

This....

$150 is no bargain for that, if the crank is truely a steel crank that changes it a little for me but without it being checked you don't knwo what it will take to get it true.

I'm wondering if it was low on antifreeze & that caused the crack & if it cracked anywhere else that they did not know of. Since it was welded they obviously then ran it & maybe it leaked elsewhere cuz now it is torn down again or maybe they welded it & did not run it. However just me I'd be tempted to try it but I would see what is avail up there for blocks & as said it might be best to not take a chance with your time and money. The steel crank is worth $150

$5 would be no bargain. 440 blocks aren't rare. Go find another one.

All manual trans B and RB engines were forged crank until they stopped production.

Kevin

Good info Kevin

Just repaired a similar block and after the repair they found a crack in the adjacent cylinder. It froze and expanded both ways. That was a 69 Charger R/T block and I felt it was worth fixing! Get another one!!!!1