I was told of this method by an old mechanic many year ago and fortunately I have never had to try it. I will only work if the crack is on the outside of the block in a flat place. Drill and tap 4 holes in the block and fasten a flat steel plate with a piece of leather between it and the block, using 4 bolts in the 4 holes. I would only do this if the block is beyond repair by other means.
A block is cast iron. Welding cast iron is tricky because a new crack may develop along the weld. I have made some welds(not on an engine block) by using nickel rods and running a very small amount of weld at a time, allowing it to cool between applications.
Another method of welding cast iron is to heat the piece red hot, weld it at normal speed, and allow it to cool slowly in a bed of ashes.
None of the above sound too good for a valuable engine block, and welding would be best left to a professional welder.
What I do reccommend is to try some of the chemical block sealers. This is cheap and will not hurt the block if it does not work. More than one application may be required. I did this on a tractor that was getting water in the oil and it worked. The tractor ran for several years.
I recently repaired the radiator on another tractor and installed new hoses. It was still losing water but not getting water in the oil, so yesterday I tried radiator stop leak which is not as strong as block sealer and it seems to have worked. You have nothing to lose trying one of these methods. Good luck.
keithsc