Looking At A Mirror 105 Block Tonight

[mbrunson427]

Can you guys load me up with a few things that I need to look for. Any specific problems the 105 blocks have?

The guy says its .030" over right now.

He wants to trade for a set of valve covers. I looked last night and had 3 sets of the style he was looking for, so I figured why not.

[fekbmax]

I have used plenty of 105 blocks. Extra webbing and typically good cylinder wall thickness. In my experience the 105 blocks such as the D3TE and D4TE will go .060 without issue. I have ran across 2 or 3 that had some core shift issues but for the most part out of any of the garden variety fe blocks I'd choose the 105 D3  or D4. Of course a sonic check and pressure test is always the best thing to do.
JMO.

[RJP]

In my experience the later blocks [D3-D4] are more prone to the oil-in-coolant problem. My latest problem child is a D4 with oil in the coolant but not via the more common oil gallery to the head but a small crack in the deck between the closest head bolt hole and the gallery.   

[fekbmax]

Just had a C scratch block like that.

[mbrunson427]

There was surface rust and thick grease all over the block so I kind of took a chance on it, couldn't tell if there were any cracks or anything like that going on. Got it home, put it on the stand and spent about 4 hours cleaning. Luck was on my side, everything turned out great. Got the sonic tester out and it looks like it'll go .060"-.080" over if wanted, but the cylinders will likely clean up at .040" and I'm sure that's where we'll leave it. The way it looked when I grabbed it, a pair of valve covers was probably an even trade, but now that it's cleaned up the deal looks a little lopsided.