I appreciate the offer, but I currently can't drive the car anywhere and would prefer to do any welding before I install the engine. I've got a mig welder, but since I don't have a lot of welding experience, I think it would be better having somone else do it. I'm almost positive that this will be inaccessible once the engine is installed.
Any suggestions for prep work and heat settings? It was suggested that I should drill small holes on either end of the crack for stress relief.