350 Zero Compression #3 and #5

[vince1]

Block seal. Got a junk radiator you can sacrifice? That will buy you time.

I've had 4.3's with head cracks. Got hundreds of thousands of kilometers out of them using a sealer.

BTW Bars leak will not clog radiators. I know because a fan let go and went through one. I was surprised to see it OK inside.

[mattfranklin]

Originally Posted by pilotXC

Thanks for everyone's comments and help...

I was overly optimistic when I pulled the head and saw the gasket popped between the cylinders. I sent a picture to a friend and saw him the next day, he said, "did you look at these pictures?" Yes, of course. "Did you see this crack?" F$%&!!!!!

I saw the crack, too. Pretty clear from the picture. I was wondering why no one else was talking about it yet and thought maybe I was just seeing a stray curled layer of gasket that was fooling my eyes. Bummer, dude.

You know, good machinists can locate good cores and make them nice. I think Summit has bare blocks and short blocks. Lots of good options to get you back on the road. The money part is a pain, though. EDIT: It looks like the Summit remanufactured bare blocks are already $700-1000. Yeouch! EDIT AGAIN: It looks like the $1000 bare block is brand new from GM.

[pilotXC]

Originally Posted by vince1

Block seal. Got a junk radiator you can sacrifice? That will buy you time.

I've had 4.3's with head cracks. Got hundreds of thousands of kilometers out of them using a sealer.

BTW Bars leak will not clog radiators. I know because a fan let go and went through one. I was surprised to see it OK inside.

Not a bad idea, but the crack is no where near a water jacket, so the sealer wouldn't do it's job in this case I don't think...

Considering an LS swap, just don't know if I really want to dive into that or not. Either that or a block and swap everything over. Still debating on how much time and money I want to dump into this thing.

[sweetk30]

i like my almost bolt in 100% L31 vortec engine i got new from gm for 1850.00 . this got me around 280 hp and roller cam and brand new engine .

just needed intake swap and a plug for the crank sensor on the front cover and a bypass hose like bbc uses to the intake from the water pump and she was in and running .

not sure what year your truck is or current fuel system . ?

[mongocanfly]

id switch to LS before id drop a bundle on a SB bare block for 700-1000

[mattfranklin]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

id switch to LS before id drop a bundle on a SB bare block for 700-1000

The LS motors are really tempting with our old SBC motors getting harder and harder to find parts for.

[61K10]

SBC parts hard to find? That's a new one on me. Put a new head gasket on it and run it. So you're out money wise 1 head gasket/intake and some labor. what tk is it in?

[pilotXC]

Originally Posted by 61K10

SBC parts hard to find? That's a new one on me. Put a new head gasket on it and run it. So you're out money wise 1 head gasket/intake and some labor. what tk is it in?

I'm thinking of doing that for the short term, but I don't NEED the truck so contemplating just holding off until I can decide on a permanent solution. Also worried it will just pop the head gasket again right away and I'll have a machine gun sound when I drive. But, then again, I don't NEED it, so would just drive it when I would absolutely have to... As you can tell, I'm conflicted.

TK is NP205...

[mongocanfly]

No issues finding a sbc or parts for one around here...I'd just have a hard time dropping that much $$ to buy a replacement block

[Dead Parrot]

Could always try this stuff: https://www.jbweld.com/products/highheat-epoxy-putty

Use one of the thin metal head gaskets and the temps should stay under the limit. Probably won't last forever but might buy you some time to find a good solution while still letting you drive the truck.

[pilotXC]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

Could always try this stuff: https://www.jbweld.com/products/highheat-epoxy-putty

Use one of the thin metal head gaskets and the temps should stay under the limit. Probably won't last forever but might buy you some time to find a good solution while still letting you drive the truck.

Guess I can't hurt it more, or even if I do, it's kind of shot anyway. I'm really thinking about putting it back together for the time being and just driving it sparingly when I need to until I can make a plan for a real fix. Thanks for the info... Wish I had more money to burn!

[vince1]

I do believe that crack goes down into the water jacket. Working on mine with the heads off I can feed a wire through the top holes from side to side between the cylinders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2xT-pKdOrc

I'd use something like this. There are a bunch of products out there but I don't know whose is the best.

[pilotXC]

After a lot of personal debate with myself on what to do, I pulled the trigger on a LQ4/4L80E today. I'll try to snap some photo's and document the swap a bit. I think in the long run, I'll be much happier going this route for what I use my truck for than sticking with the stock 350/350...

[mattfranklin]

Originally Posted by pilotXC

After a lot of personal debate with myself on what to do, I pulled the trigger on a LQ4/4L80E today. I'll try to snap some photo's and document the swap a bit. I think in the long run, I'll be much happier going this route for what I use my truck for than sticking with the stock 350/350...

Sounds like fun.