Aluminum Block Mystery

What the heck is going on here?? Has anyone ever seen something like this? I bought this block and some other parts from a fellow racer about a year ago. Found this as I was cleaning it up for assembly. The block is supposed to be new, never ran, and appears to be that except for this. Inside the threaded drain plug on the passenger side of the motor it looks like there is a 1/8" hole in the interior side of the water jacket, and someone has attempted to plug it with a piece of 1/8" aluminum welding rod. That short piece is then bent at 90 degrees and held in place by another wire of some sort about 10" long, appears to be maybe some sort of non-ferrous welding rod. Did the guys at Keith Black do this, or ??. I don't see how the longer wire could have been installed thru the freeze plug openings.

Best guess, maybe a coolant drain for storage?

Looks like part of the casting process. The wire might have been used to hold the cores in place.

Bingo on this. Have seen this before on my Stock Iron Ford 460 block but in slightly different orientation but the function of holding the cores is the same.

AG.

Thanks for the input--I thought that I was going to have to somehow work thru that 3/8 NPT hole and fix a small hole inside the water jacket. What a relief! I think I will still call Keith Black's shop and ask them.

You should always pressure check a block like that before you get too deep into the project. Those blocks require a lot of hand prep before they are ready for assembly. Go over every detail at least a couple of times.

Andy I am interested in getting one of those pressure testing kits from you, will send you a PM. Also, what oiling mods should I be considering? I'll be running a solid roller, something that makes good power from 4500-7000 RPM.

I have a few pressure testing parts on hand so I can ship you what I have.
I doubt that you need any oiling mods to that block but I've never used one. There are people on the board who have experience with those blocks so hopefully they'll answer. Are your lifter bores drilled for oil or are they dry? I assume you have to use an external oiling system with that block. Is that correct or is it drilled for an internal pickup?

It's bored along the lifter galleys but I can't see where the feed comes into them. I have the oil pickup and stuff to plumb the external oil lines., I didn't really look to see if it had provisions for an internal pickup. Also will have to provide a spot for the oil pressure gauge to plumb into, as this block doesn't have one like a factory block.

Agreed with above, also used on iron.


On certain MP designs the ends of the wire that sits from the front to rear of the block has historically been a minor problem, and would create a small coolant leak to the outside of the block.
The megablock and older MP water block (pre-World) had a small cast-in bump in the front and rear of the block to add material and try to alleviate the problem. Sometimes the strategy did not work and
there would be a spot of porosity or a small gas bubble in the exact location of the wire. I've only seen about a half dozen like that, only one had the leak in the rear.
All were repairable with small pipe plugs but at least a couple were replaced for that reason. It is a very rare failure but did happen.

I pulled the wire out thru the freeze plug opening, the long front-to-rear wire was about 20" long, steel, and free on both ends. It was held in place by a short aluminum wire 1/8" diameter, and the inner end of that wire was imbedded in the inner wall of the water jacket.

Why?
Are you happy now, sleeping better hopefully
AKA aside, good job

that rod could be a zinc rod to help with electrolysis...I see them in blocks/heads from time to time..

It should't have an internal pickup. All of those 1/8" pipe plugs in the side of the main oil galley can be used for an oil pressure gauge. I've never had one of that year that had lifter oiling. I believe it was done from behind the cam bearings then. Look there for the circuits.