I was hoping to have money at this point, and fix up ol pearl right.. but unfortunately I don't. I am turning 16 in 3mo and need a car. I almost bought a beater, but some *** bought it right out under me . I'm still looking for another car, but surprisingly in my price range there isn't many cars [gee who would have thought $200 couldn't get me much car?]. However there is still hope.

Since my trans is still somewhat functional, I will just go for getting the engine running. The giant hole in my block can be fixed by just by welding some 1/8" steel over it [i have welder access]. So that takes care of the hole. Running the engine on 4cyl isn't practical for daily use, however putting on two used rods and pistons is. There are a few ways I can go about doing it. Listed cheapest to most expensive.

1. Go with just slapping on two used rods with the bearings they come with and hoping for the best. Oil pressure will suck, but it sucked before anyways.
2. Put on the two used rods with new bearings on just those two rods, or new bearings all around.
3. Get the crank checked out by machine shop to perhaps resurface it[unlikely, but I thought i'd throw it in there], new bearings, and used rods.
4. New/used crank, if used good or good enough of course, new bearings, two new rods.

If possible, I would just use the stock piston rings [that is if they want to come off, or aren't already dead], for the best seal [not that it would make that much of a difference]. I could do all of the work from the bottom of the engine to save on head/intake gaskets.

Tell me what you guys think, which option would be [cheapest] best. I'm thinking it may be worth it to do #4.. because if the engine grenades again it probably won't be fixable.

Now *that'** something I've never heard of before. Good to see you again, and best of luck with that

Well, you can weld cast iron, but you need a nickel rod and it need to be stress relieved afterwards. Usually, you preheat to 300 or so, weld and then dump in sand or ashes and let cool overnight. Peening the welds also helps. This gets pretty problematical with a block. I don't think welding steel onto cast iron will work. It will probably crack as soon as it cools.

Block cracks can be repaired with a stitching technique that puts in little dogbones to tie the crack together, but that'* expensive and not for this type of problem.

As long as you're not in a high stress area of the block, and you're not into oilways or water passages, you could probably repair the hole by making a steel plate to cover it and then drilling and tapping some holes into the block. Screw the plate to the block and seal the plate with JB weld (which has pretty much the same coefficient of expansion as iron). A lot of work for an iffy repair.

Can't you just find another engine? I've run three of the 3.8L over 200K miles and the engines were still going strong when I scrapped the cars. I'd think you could find one pretty cheap. An engine swap is a lot of work, but, you're already talking about a lot of work.

I managed to pic up a low mileage engine for 300$. It then turned out that the frame is rotting away so I found another car for 900$. The new car is currently getting work done to it to pass a safety ( law around here).


I am sure you can find a low mileage engine or any engine for a decent price. Probably cheaper than getting the crank done.

I vote engine swap. A good salvage yard will gaurantee an engine. There are like a billion of these engines out there. You'll want to pull out the engine anyway to weld the block, save yourself the effort of fixing that one and just get another one.

I call it a band-aid on a gunshot wound. No point in repairing the block, you could get a used motor, even with low miles for what you'd pay to repair the old engine.
You also didn't take apart the entire motor? Maybe there is more damage hidden.

OSG, engines are cheap. 300-400 will get you a nice junkyard motor. Don't waste the money on the old motor.
Why don't you see if you can get a transaxle to go with it for a combined price?

3800 block in my garage, gordys garage, nates garage... possibilities are endless...

PLEAASE swap it

Not to mention I have a block in my garage/barn, from when I threw a rod bearing. But for the cost and aggravation of shipping, you would almost be better with a junkyard engine.

Then again If I was alot closer, I would just give you the block I have.

I know an engine swap would be much better, but there is no money for it. I can get an LN3 for $250 at the local yard... but that'* $250 I don't have.

Paul: you seem to know what you are talking about.. the hole isn't in any oil ways or water passages, however it will see oil [the hole is in the crankcase]. How hard would it be to drill a hole into a block? Considering the block is about 1/4" thick in this area. I've got the entire HS autoshop at my disposal... we have tons of stuff... from a brake lathe to a tech 2 [and yes I've gotten to play with it ].

I haven't torn apart the engine, except pulling the oil pan. The damage isn't likely enough to prevent the engine from running. Maybe not running 100%, but I'm not expecting that.

I just thought of this idea.. now it is ghetto to the max.. but it would be simple as pie. I won't even try to explain it, but i'll throw on a pic. It'* not the greatest, but I think it'* self explainatory.


I'm determined to fix this block.. if there is a way, i've got the will.

Oh yeah, and I have an edit to make.. I forgot the rods don't have separate bearings, they are built onto the rods themselves, so there would be no new bearings there.. but I will put new crank bearings [the ones that attach to the main caps], if the cost is justified.

Hell you find a way to get the shipping reasonable....I'll GIVE you the damn block....just want it out of the garage. Problem is it'* a 95 L67 block and that may possibly be a problem. My feeling is if you do what you're planning to do, you're gonna find that the cylinder walls are a LOT more fucked up than you want to believe.