It's funny to see that I had the same exact crack except it was in the lifter gallery area, because I didn't winterize cause I was gonna scrap it anyway. So my plan to scrap it and buy a new one didn't work out as I planned so I was forced to use for another season . So I ground out the crack and laid a ton of JB WELD , and it got me through another season, LOL. Since you have already taken out the block the best way to repair would be with a OXYGEN-ACETYLENE TORCH and some BRONZE BRAZING rod especially on a cast iron block like the other reader stated. It's cheap and would restore the strength of the block. Hope that helps.