Well,I noticed a tiny drop of coolant on the ground under the dart. Crawled under and looks like the freeze plugs are going to need to be replaced. One looked like it has scale/crust on it. Looked at the parts stores and found some brass freeze plugs. Does anyone have any tips on how to replace these with the engine in the car. Ive watched some videos on YouTube. What is the best sealant to use when installing new ones? I was always told Permatex Aviation Form A Gasket was the best
1968 Dart 273 - Freeze plug replacement
- Thread starter 68Dart270
- Start date
-
clean the hole well!
use the opportunity to dig the crust out of the jackets, too
drive then straight, slow, and precise
not hard, good luck!
and I use the aviation stuff, too
use the opportunity to dig the crust out of the jackets, too
drive then straight, slow, and precise
not hard, good luck!
and I use the aviation stuff, too
if your freeze plugs are compromised, chances are that your timing cover is not far behind...
Have you had that happen to you before? Its only one freeze plug that looks crusty,but im sure they all need to be replaced. I found a set of Brass freeze plugs at the parts store.
Any tips for replacing them?
Last edited:
4spdragtop
Well-Known Member
yes. several times.
just recently... on a 273 in fact...
clean the block really well, rough up the sealing surface on both the block and plug with a little sand paper, use a sealer of your choice, drive the plug in square from the outside edge with an appropriately sized socket.
anyway, if your system is rank and leaky you might want to consider a more thorough and in depth repair. throwing a radiator at a block that's full of junk is just asking for a poor outcome.
Let the sealers setup over night or longer before adding coolant or heat
What about the two between the engine and transmission?
This is one. Its the only brass one they have. Its getting harder to find the Permatex Avaition Form A Gasket sealer now too. Only Napa had it and it was almost $20 for a 4 Oz bottle
I cant see them,therefore they dont exist and will be fine. Lol!. Kinda like how the coyote in the roadrunner cartoons can run off the cliff and won't fbe affected by gravity and fall until he looks down and realizes theres no ground beneath him. Freeze plugs I cant see cant possibly fail. Haha.
Yeah. Good luck with that.
Thanks for the pics. Thats pretty rough. The coolant in my radiator is always green and clear since ive owned ot. I have changed it every 2 years which is what the recommend time frame is with the conventional green antifreeze,but have know way of knowing what type of care the cooling system was given by the previous owner. A lot of people seem to think that coolant and automatic transmission fluid are permanent and never need to be replaced. Obviously since the freeze plug looks that way,my cover may look like that too. Thanks got the heads up.
Speaking of ridiculous ideas,I saw a video a while ago where a guy with a 70's Chevy truck used JB Weld High Heat epoxy to fill in the rusty,leaky freeze plugs on his engine. He was bragging that this was a permanent fix and he would never have to worry about freeze plugs and again and that "the factory should have designed the blocks without freeze plugs. Apparently he is unaware that they are necessary in the casting process of the block.
Yeah, they call those idiots.
I saw someone tap the freeze plug holes and screw in plugs
I used to have an expansion plug installation tool long ago. It did the job with the engine in the car.
If you find it can you post a photo of it?
It is interesting that everyone here calls them "freeze plugs", even the listing from Dorman lists them as such.
They are not actually freeze plugs. The block will crack long before frozen coolant will pop out one of these plugs.
The proper term is Core Plug but it is hard to break tradition for some people, myself included. We grew up calling them freeze plugs even though it is not correct.
Moving on....
There are some steel plugs that are somewhat shallow. The sides of them are noticeably shorter than the brass ones.
As far as changing them with the engine in the car, there will be some difficulty. Here is why....
First off, the right side. Three plugs here on the side, one in the right front.
The one near the motor mount will be hard to get to. Access to the one in the middle and the rear seem wide open. The one at the front seems easy.
The left side is maybe worse since the steering box crowds the way. You still have the one near the motor mounts...
The rearmost one is blocked by the starter. The one at the front of the block is behind the power steering pump.
I have leaky plugs in my 72 Duster with a 360. I'm just going to pull the engine to change them.
They are not actually freeze plugs. The block will crack long before frozen coolant will pop out one of these plugs.
The proper term is Core Plug but it is hard to break tradition for some people, myself included. We grew up calling them freeze plugs even though it is not correct.
Moving on....
There are some steel plugs that are somewhat shallow. The sides of them are noticeably shorter than the brass ones.
As far as changing them with the engine in the car, there will be some difficulty. Here is why....
First off, the right side. Three plugs here on the side, one in the right front.
The one near the motor mount will be hard to get to. Access to the one in the middle and the rear seem wide open. The one at the front seems easy.
The left side is maybe worse since the steering box crowds the way. You still have the one near the motor mounts...
The rearmost one is blocked by the starter. The one at the front of the block is behind the power steering pump.
I have leaky plugs in my 72 Duster with a 360. I'm just going to pull the engine to change them.
Thanks. I found someone selling a used snap on and a Indestro kit. The snap on appears to be metric. The indestro sae (inch). It has 5 disc's. Do most of these kits have the correct size driver for our freeze plugs? Figured youd know since you just did this job on a 273
they should have the correct sizes. i always just use sockets to drive them in.
obviously, you'll want sae/inch
obviously, you'll want sae/inch
The tool that I had was about 18 inches long and was angled at the swivel head. It was sized for the block plugs. I was able to reach the open hole from the bottom of the car. I replaced them all when I rebuilt the engine. The flange of the tool drove all the plugs to the same depth.
4spdragtop
Well-Known Member
Silly question, would all the block plugs be installed to same depth? Im thinking something like a hose clamp wrapped around the socket for depth control.
-
Similar threads
