Topic: Late 65 289 engine block anodes?

[fjm]

After my teardown of my late 65 289 engine block and cleaning after 40+ yrs of sitting in my garage, I soaked the inside of the block to dissolve old rust.  When I flushed the block and rotated upside down to drain an almost a marble sized chunk of material came out of each side.  Thought they might be iron slag left in during casting, but they are not magnetic.  Did Ford put a chunk of magnesium or the like in each side as an anode to help prevent corrosion?  Never heard of this before and don't know.  Any ideas?  You help appreciated.

[CharlesTurner]

Never heard of it

[J_Speegle]

Never seen or heard of anyone finding such nor anything I know of in TSB articles or other Ford documents

[KevinK]

Sacrificial anodes are usually zinc and attached for servicing. Finding 1 could be from a previous owner’s experiment. Finding 2 and one on each side sounds well planned.

I suggest cracking them open to see what it’s made of. Zinc is soft and shines at clean metal surface.  It could possibly just be a collection of crud.

[fjm]

I have 2 pieces and each piece looks like the other but one is a bit smaller.  The larger piece is roundish and a bit smaller than a dime.  I just filed a piece and found it to be relatively soft, very shiny, and metallic.  They do have a bit of weight to them for their size.  Since neither is magnetic, my vote is that they are zinc anodes put into each side of the block.  Now-a-days you can get anodes for/with a radiator cap, so maybe Iaccoca and his boys thought of it back then.

Anyway, just thought that if I was to post this anywhere this would be the site.  I would post a picture if I knew how.

So all the stangs out there without a block anode piece might not be Concours after all.   Kidding of course.   

[carlite65]

posting a pic is easy. hit 'reply'. below the box is 'attachments and other options'. click that & follow the directions.

[jwc66k]

Anyway, just thought that if I was to post this anywhere this would be the site.  I would post a picture if I knew how.

posting a pic is easy. hit 'reply'. below the box is 'attachments and other options'. click that & follow the directions.

Remember, the picture must come from your own files. When you attach it, the picture becomes part of the forum. You can do more than one. I recommend .jpg format pictures, with a size of 6 x 8 inches and 100dpi.
Jim

[midlife]

Pieces of Jimmy Hoffa?

[jwc66k]

Hoffa's in the end zone of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, rows 8 thru 12.
Jim

[fjm]

Hoping this picture posts OK.

[carlite65]

pics are ok but i have never seen those before either.

[midlife]

Remnants of freeze plugs that were inadvertently pushed in and couldn't be extracted?

[fjm]

I'll leave you with the picture(s) and what I know for sure....

They came from an original factory intact 289 engine with 89K miles on it.  A convertible.  A May 1965 Dearborn build.
The pieces have a bit of weight for their size.  I filed down one edge (not shown) to find it to be a very shiny metallic, non-magnetic material, like zinc.
My vote is that they are zinc pieces put in each block half to settle at the bottom of the block as a "getter", to help prevent rust, corrosion, etc......like the anode in a home hot water tank.

That's all I got.  Thanks for your input.

I'll post again if I find out more.  You too?