The reason to fill your block with a block filler is to prevent flexing of the block which may compromise your ring seal and cause additional friction between the piston skirt and the cylinder wall. I started filling the block this week, the material I am using is from Race Engineering and it came recommended by some members here on the forum. It comes in a 25 Lb. bucket, you need to divide it in half and use half for each side, there is more than enough material to do both sides. I leveled the block by shimming my engine stand and got the block level in both directions. This is only the second time I have done this process, so I am far from an expert here. The other time I did this I used "Hard Block" and that was quite a few years ago. If you ever do this do NOT do it when it's hot as it may harden up VERY fast. When I did the first side it was very hot and it turned out to be a disaster, after mixing it started hardening almost immediately. I didn't even get half of the material in the block and it was hardening in the funnel and what I did get in didn't reach very far in the block. Mind you I was prepared and had everything ready in advance all I had to do is add water mix and pour.
I believe I made two mistakes; it was too hot (around 95 degrees) and I think I didn't make the mixture thin enough. I have a game room inside of my shop and it has AC, so I moved the operation into my game room and turned the thermostat down to 65 degrees and left it in there for 24 hours and got everything good and cold. This time I added more water and got it thinner and had my wife hold the funnel for me. Now I am re-pouring the same side to get a complete fill. With my assistant holding the funnel and me working fast with my thinner mixture in a 65 degree environment it was a success.
I believe that most people that do this only fill to the bottom of the water pump holes but based on the recommendation of my machinist I filled it to about one third of the way above the water pump holes. I am waiting for the negative comments on this as I am sure they will be coming. Since I used the other half of the material to finish the first side I had to order another bucket of material it should be here Tuesday. Once the block fill is complete it will be going to the machinist for the line bore/hone (to mate the new 4 bolt caps), boring/honing the cylinders and decking for a zero deck.
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Tim Corcoran
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