[25stevem]

Jay / guys, I have seen two blocks fail like that .
The first one was years ago at a local machine shop that use to be handy and close.

The second was just this passed Summer at a junk yard that was trying to clear out to shut down.

I took the time to pull the pan off the 557 block even though the timing cover was blown off the motor.

The interesting detail that clicked when a saw this second dead block was that the crack that started the main bulkhead failure looked like it started right at the crank centerline side of the dowl pin hole, which was what I thought was the same starting point on the first failed 557 block I ever saw.

I have seen pictures of one of these block failures that very clearly started at the sharp edge of the drilled main bearing oil feed hole.

These blocks are just too weak to stand up to anything but a well balanced recuperating assy and a good tune.

I should have taken a picture of this second block and crank, but my hands where too filthy to even think about handing my phone, lol!

Sorry, I did not really mean to side track this string.