Bruce Tip 53: exhaust leak/pitted block

Gustafson

Member
I used Bruce 53 method to repair my pitted block. First step is to drill 1/8" diameter holes, 1/8" deep in the areas that have eroded.
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Then the thermoSteel is applied using a flat screwdriver blade. I used about half of a 3oz. bottle of ThermoSteel, and I could have used much less.
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I left the manifold on for about an hour, then removed it and set up my work lights to cure the epoxy. I used a meat thermometer stuck in a head bolt hole to gage the temperature. The block temperature topped out at about 130 degrees after a couple hours under the lights.
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The hard part was cleaning off the excess epoxy. I had used way too much and that stuff sticks to the steel real well.
I started with a die grinder to remove the Thermosteel that had squished out around the manifold. Then I tried various other methods to flatten the epoxy in the manifold clamping area. In the end, the best method I found was to wrap 80 grit sandpaper around a wood shim and sand the surface flat, by hand. It took about two hours to clean up the block.
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I love it when a plan comes together. It is nice to see a job well done and you take a lot of pride in your work. To me working on things is a art form and you are a true artist,great job!!!!!!!!!!!! Bruce put this man's work for the world to see.
 
(quoted from post at 19:18:40 03/21/13) I used Bruce 53 method to repair my pitted block. First step is to drill 1/8" diameter holes, 1/8" deep in the areas that have eroded.


If I had been were you were it it would have went to a machine shop and milled... I don't understand drilling the block anyone care to splain that...
 
Drilling it like that gives me the creeps. Eventually (in 5, 50 or 500 years) the job will have to be done right, and all those holes will just make it harder.

Besides, I can't imagine they really are going to increase adhesion much over what is already provided by the pitting. It doesn't take much to key two surfaces together when they are bolted together flat like this. Also these fillers are not very strong in sheer so I doubt drilling down a full 1/8th really adds anything to the repair.

I could be wrong, though. It would be interested in trying it both ways on a dozen or so machines and see if there was any significant difference in how long the repair lasted.

Myself, I have a skived, tapered gasket that has been doing the job nicely for 30 years, but I think next time I have to to do the job I'll use whatever the latest and greatest high-temp filler is - but without the holes.
 
Oh, probably worth mentioning that Thermosteel is not epoxy - "high temperature" epoxies usually have a max temp of only 400-500 degrees, which is probably a bit low for this application, compared to Thermosteel's claimed 2400F.

Don't mean to be picky but we don't want anyone going out and buying the wrong stuff.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Thermosteel is just a good grade of refractory cement with maybe a bit of metal dust mixed in as a filler. Refractory cements usually are good up to 2000-2500F
 

If it works it works I don't wanna be the test dummy... If it does not work I would track down the dummy that dreamed up the hole drill'n ... I would never add that to my tips that I personally did not test and confirm after quite a few years of hard hard hard use... I can see a man trying to get a years worth of service from a issue like this its not that hard to repeat it as needed.. But when the engine is disassembled WHY rigger nag it :!: and be proud of it...

IMHO I personalty con-dim the hole drilling...
 
Hobo,I'm with you on that one! Also if I had a block out and stripped down and it was eroded around the exhaust ports.It would make a trip to the milling machine and that problem would be gone.NO #53 needed.
 

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