[Spridgets] Cement in the engine?

[BJNoSHOV8]

Street engines:
In the old days there were products made and sold to seal up radiator 
leaks and so forth.  The one that I recall seeing was a dark red powder, 
sold in small cellophane packets.  You pour it in your radiator while 
your engine is running.  I don't know if it sealed leaks or made a mess 
or both.  The concept of Portland cement is probably the same- pour it 
in and hope it migrates to the cracks and seals them.  Seems to me that 
if you put very much of it in your engine it would just make a mess.

Dragster engines:
For a single run down the 1/4 mile, some engines don't even use radiator 
cooling so theoretically they could have their blocks filled with 
cement.  Portland cement by itself is not very strong.  Mix it with 
water, let it cure, and it breaks up easily into little pieces.  As for 
pouring it into an engine, the first thing it will do during curing is 
to shrink so it might be kind of a loose fit around the cylinders.  I'm 
not saying it doesn't do something to provide strength, it just seems 
that it has characteristics that would work against it.  I'm assuming 
when they say "cement" that they mean portland cement.  Portland cement 
is a grey powder, like flour.  You mix it with water, aggregates (sand 
and gravel), and usually some additional chemicals, and it hardens and 
becomes CONCRETE.  Cement by itself can be mixed with water and it will 
harden but it isn't very strong.  There are some cement based 
construction materials that could be used that would have more favorable 
properties (non-shrink grout).

>>   Anyone ever heard of such a thing?
>> My machine shop guy showed me an engine filled with cement.
>> It was an extremely high performance engine he was building.
>> I was a bit taken back by it when he explained how it dissipates the heat
>> better, strengthens the lower end of the block from too large a bore, but it
>> does make it a little heavier.
>> It all made sense when he showed me and explained it as a machinist only
>> knows how to explain it.