601ci Rare Pontiac Indian tall deck block with an unbelievable resurrection
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgdeN7Muvhw

Quite a process!

That was some impressive welding repair work!

That guy knows his dooky...


Frank

Amazing

Thanks for posting. Very interesting. Looking for part 2.

Impressive

what kind of block is this? IA1 tall deck or something else?

Anyone know whose block that is? Only 601 I can recall belonged to Terry McGean from HOT ROD.

I recall the gentleman in alaska that recently passed away ran a 601.

Anyone have a clue what a ballpark repair cost would be for that level of work?

I am about half way through the video, and the host (Dave) suggested that the engine was as old as him;
Am I incorrect in seeming to recall HPP talking about these from the late 1990's or early 2000's?

I too was wondering what this repair would cost.

I have only seen one cast iron repair guy;
It was about twenty years ago in Portland (or maybe Vancouver), and back then the guy doing the repairs (to my cousin's RAIV heads) seemed to be about a hundred years old;
The shop was in a really old area, and I seem to recall (might be incorrect) that the shop was so old, that it had a dirt floor.

I'm eager to see the rest of the process.

I wonder who Dave is???
Towards the end of the video, he's talking to the welder about the block. Dave tells him how rare it is, and that it's likely older than he (dave) is.
Does Dave know ANYTHING about those blocks???

It's awesome that they are saving that block.

Yes...tall deck Indian Adventures block was probably late 90's/early 2000's as guessed.

Cost guess....figure $100-150 shop rate and they've been working on it a couple of days. Still cheaper than a new block.

I have a couple of strength concerns. The guy said he was using straight cast iron with no alloys...which sounds like not as good as the original block material. Also they let it cool very slowly and I get that that is probably necessary for controlling residual stresses and cracking from shrinkage. But my meager knowledge of the cast iron block material is that slow cooling tempers the CI to a lower strength.

So I think it's awesome that they are fixing the block but I doubt that it will be the full strength of the original block.

Disclaimer....I could be wrong on everything I just typed. Draw your own conclusions.

And I'm looking forward to part 2.

Eric

Creech up in Alaska had one of those blocks.

He kept calling it the Indian block instead of Indian Adventures. I don't think he knows the particulars.

Eric

By the looks of Dave, I'd say he's likely twice as old as that block is............;)

I'd say (no offense), that he's at least three times as old as that block.

I'm twice as old as the block and as poor of a judge of age as I am, I'm confident that he's got a couple decades on me.

The magic ingredient comes in the form of the Indian Adventures "Tall Deck" block

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...ontiac-engine/

I found this thread of particular interest. Many years ago, I think it was around 2002, my engine builder at the time had one of these tall deck blocks sitting in the corner of his shop.
A local fellow here in the Austin area bought it from Dick Duclow and had it dropped off at his shop.

Fast forward... now today I have no clue whatever was done with that particular block.


.

With all the money this repair has to cost you would think you could take a std deck block and sort of a permanent deck plate and sleeve the whole thing.
I have heard of this sort of thing done before.
I can't wait for the 2nd video. How it turns out.
But its still cast iron and there has to be some sort of heat line.