[mikebro]

Geoff

The metal around the hole is locally probably only about 1mm but I can't get in to measure the thickness anywhere else. However, I've now removed the blanking plate on the front of the block (underneath the water pump which is now also removed) and the metal as far as I can see has a good thickness away from the corrosion immediately round the hole. As you can see from the photo, the hole is almost at the front of the block, very close to the water pump. In fact I can see daylight via the hole when looking through from where the blanking plate has been removed. I've got a telephone call with a "block stitcher" here in the Uk lined up for tomorrow morning. He has seen the photos and wants to chat, which is encouraging.

Mike