[Mgb-v8] Block cracking in the US

[James J.]

After a few years of hiatus, I've started putting my Rover engine 
together.  Two years ago, I was really confident with building up a 
stroker using a 300 crank and a 3.9L block I got from D&D.  Since then, 
I keep hearing all these horror stories about cracked blocks/water 
leaks/dropped cylinder liners in the 3.9/4.0/4.2/4.6 blocks.  Some 
sources cite a failure rate as high as 25%.  RPI (in the UK) sells 
top-hat liners, but that is expensive, and (despite other reports that 
indicate they DO work) they don't recommend them and claim they don't work.

Are we seeing cracked blocks/dropped liners over here in the states on 
the 3.9L and larger blocks?  If push comes to shove and my block does 
start to leak, does anyone know if the re-lining actually works or not?

I hate to admit how much I've forgotten in the last 2 or 3 years......

V/R
James "worry-wort" Jewell