My truck has been out of service for about 2-1/2 years. I discovered water in my oil soon after returning from the Southern Fall Tour in 2019. Since then, the head has been off and back on 3 times. On one of these, I over-torqued the head and damaged my block. Some welding and a thread repair fixed the damage and the head went back on for the last time (I hope). I started it and took a short slow trip through our neighborhood. Remarkably, it started and ran on the gas that had been in the tank for the entire down-time.
Water in the oil is never a good thing and hopefully you have it all separated now. The old cast iron isnt very forgiving when you over tighten bolts, a bit like alluminum. Tony
I left home on a "shake down" trip yesterday. I was headed out to put in fresh gas and fill my cans for lawn mowing. The 2-1/2 year rest, and old gas in my carburetor caught up with me and I had to call my wife for a rescue. I swapped out the carb from my '35 car and made the trip without incident. I think I still have timing and valve adjustment issues. This truck was always so reliable. This is the first time it didn't make it home under it's own power.
Woohoo! Who/how did the block get mended, Mike? I am still nursing the coolant weep from a crack or hole in the water jacket on Leapin. I’d love to swap it out with the spare motor and then get the original fixed but no one is keen on messing with the cast. It’s above my pay grade as a cobbler of old junk, too…
I dont know if it is available in the US but down here I have used a product "Chemiweld" with reasonable success. Not good enough to hold a blown head gasket but has sealed a cracked exhaust port. Tony
My Buddy, Joe, welded up the broken lug on my block. I re-drilled it and tapped new threads. I used a "time-sert" thread repair on the other "suspect" bolt hole. I'll see if I can post some pictures in another appropriate thread.
