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Glad to hear your thoughts on this. I stopped by the machine shop and his thoughts were the same. He was a bit perplexed as to how it could have happened. The machine shop owner gave me 3 options. 1) try to have it welded and repaired in place, 2) pull the engine, find a replacement block and he'll eat machining cost to get another engine going, 3) run it as it is and if there is an issue on the next year, revert to option 2. This is after I've sat on this engine for 2 years after they did their work. We'll hopefully fire it up this week.

That looks terrible. But, I'd bet it has existed since the block was cast. I'd run it as is and this is why: There is no oil under pressure in that area of the block. There is almost zero load on the tappet bore, just an up/down motion with a minimal side load from the cam contacting the lifter base. As evidence I offer the fact that I've never encountered a worn bore, even in engines with many, many, many accumulated miles. And have never heard of anyone else finding one. Yes I know it is a lot of work to remove and replace the block if it doesn't work out, but I'd gamble on it working fine. After all there is a lot of machine and assembly work done and salvaging that is worth the gamble in my mind.

I did mine the hard way. 2007. Also primed the steel and added a stick-on acoustical/insulating layer. I had fun threading the wires through the windshield post. While I was at it, I added a few spare wires to the trunk area. You never know.

As much as I like engine cleaners and Italian tuneups, I dont think they will get any of the soot out of the tailpipe(s). Some soot is natural, but if the weber is giving a better air/fuel ratio, it should be much slower to build up. I would fashion something that you can swab out the tailpipe with. Think gun brush, but broomstick based. You may be able to find a bottle brush of the correct size at a hardware store or on Amazon, but a rag stapled to a broomstick would also work. I would get the exhaust nice and hot, then stick the wet swab up the pipe a few times. Of course this will only get it clean for the foot or two before it loops over the axle, and you may find that black water from deeper in the system still runs out. Maybe a few cleanings will remove enough of it that it isnt splattering your bumper and garage floor. Good luck!

IMHO, nothing fed into the carb inlet will do much of anything beyond the exhaust manifold. Water and/or alcohol will clean the combustion chambers well, but the resulting loose carbon will get deposited in the muffler. The exhaust just cools too much beyond the manifold. The 'italian tuneup' is likely the best solution, but wait for nice warm weather and find a location with lots of uphill runs to get as much temp increase as possible for as long as possible. And repeat weekly.

We used to say it needs an Italian tune up. Make suree your choke is fully open, at high idle pour about 1 quarter can of Berrymans carb cleaner slowly down the carb, pour about half of whats left in the can into the gaa tank. Now drive out to the country roads then drive the wheels off it till you run about about a quarter tank through it. 60 to70 miles or so. Get every thing g nice and warm then let her eat. In the words of Enzo Ferrari, "Brakes? We don't need brakes! They only slow you down!" Make sure you use all the carb circuits, idle, acc pump, climb so long hills to get the step up valve gets some work. Speaking of the step up, if it's not working correctly it might be stuck open, which will cause wet exhaust, black smoke, lousy fuel milage and fouled plugs. What do your sparkplug look like?

I was thinking water myself, is known to "steam clean" the inside of a engine and remove carbon ..... I need to try this myself. I have seen some just dribble it into the carb from a bottle while keeping engine at a fast idle .... others use a spray bottle and squirt it in. Rev up the engine and watch the black soot pour out of it. While I do use seafoam annually in my fuel tanks .... I'm a bit skeptical on how well it works inside the engine from the oil. ... It might help. Currently I'm running about a quart of ATF with my oil to help clean sludge and hopefully unstick some rings .... not your problem though, but is a good cleaner on internal engine parts. .... I just feel I would get more benefit adding ATF to my oil then I would seafoam. I use the ATF by adding it to the oil before changing ... run it awhile like a week or so, loosens things up. Then change oil and add a quart ATF to the fresh oil and run it for a few weeks to really clean the engine good, then change it again .... depending how clean the oil comes out determines if I keep adding ATF .... is a good cleaner and a quart will not damage the engine.

If you go to the top of the page you will see several categories, Browse, leaderboard, activities, store, support, FAQ ..... There is a donation section under store. There are several here that donate to help keep the site going ... every little bit helps.

My$.02 is,I also would run it if I were into it as far as you are. Easy for me to say, I know, but I would.

If you will provide me with your bankcard number I'll take care of the rest............