63 freeze out plugs

[Robert B.]

where can I get the correct freeze out plugs. 1963

[Joe R.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Robert,

Any major parts supplier such as NAPA, O'Riley's etc. will stock or order the plugs for you. When they arrive there will be a logo in the indented side of the plug. That's the side that will show. Take a body filler and fill the logo, sand and paint the plugs with engine orange when you assemble.

JR

[Mike M.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

get brass soft plugs from summit , jets, morose(can't remember where i got mine) since they don't have a manufacturer's logo stamped on their exposed surface. mike

[John D.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Dr. Mikey, It's Jeg's. Not Jets.
But look out as if you buy one thing from Jegs you will get a thick catalog almost every week. JD

[Robert B.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

So r they suppose to be brass or steel or does it matter for judging ? I was told that the brass ones have less problems with leakage ?

[Joe L.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

So r they suppose to be brass or steel or does it matter for judging ? I was told that the brass ones have less problems with leakage ?

Robert------


The originals were steel. However, engines are painted so no one will know if you use brass instead of steel unless they subject the plugs to a magnet test. (By the way, I do not agree with magnet tests because the standard is "APPEARS", not passing what amounts to an analytical procedure).

I ALWAYS use brass freeze plugs.

[Joe R.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Certainly brass freeze plugs are the way to go but any I have ever seen are much thicker that the steel plugs and any half blind judge can see the difference.
After all the steel plugs have lasted 40 to 50 years.
You gonna need them longer than that???

JR

PS. don't think any of the judges I have met thru the years are gonna be poking their heads under any Corvette that deep and behind the exhaust manifolds.

[John D.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Wonder why the brass freeze plugs aka welch aka welsh plugs are thicker. I bought some for FI work and was disappointed. They are very thick and difficult to install. Not talking about engine's though as never installed one in my life. Just Fi stuff. JD

[Duke W.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Brass is lower strength and has a lower elastic modulus, so they have to be thicker than steel to offer the same strength and "springiness".

Duke

[Philip C.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

where can I get the correct freeze out plugs. 1963

Bob, pop a couple of seal-well cubes in the block before you install the freeze plugs, you be glad you did. Phil 8063

[Dale C.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Just saw something on a 396 block cracking after freezing with no antifreeze. In this case they didn't work as freeze plugs. I have heard that the plugs were actually milling wash out plugs, is that not their function?

[Terry M.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Their original function is to allow the casting sand to exit the interior of the cylinder case -- the area that gets filled with coolant has to be filled with sand during the casting process in order for there to be an opening there. Before the iron is poured into the mold that internal sand has to be supported somehow. Those holes also provide some of that support.

When liquid freezes in a cylinder case it generally cracks that portion of the case that is below those holes that the plugs go into. The freezing usually makes a horizontal line along the bottom of the cylinder case. All that assUmes the case is setting upright, as it would in the vehicle. If it is on the ground and/or tilted Mother Nature will have her way. A lot depends on how much liquid is int he cylinder case and how hard the freeze is.

[Dick W.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

They still make steel plugs? I have used brass from probably the last 40 years.

[Joe L.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Just saw something on a 396 block cracking after freezing with no antifreeze. In this case they didn't work as freeze plugs. I have heard that the plugs were actually milling wash out plugs, is that not their function?

Dale------


I think the term "freeze plug" is actually a misnomer that's gotten into the vernacular over a period of time.

I believe it's pretty much as Terry describes. These plugs are really a PRODUCTION necessity for a complex SAND casting like a cylinder block or some cylinder heads.

I have never really believed that there's any way that these plugs would protect a block from damage in freezing conditions. In other words, there's no way that they would "pop out" or otherwise relieve the stress created when liquid in a block's cooling system expands due to freezing conditions.

[Dick W.]

Re: 63 freeze out plugs

Dale------


I think the term "freeze plug" is actually a misnomer that's gotten into the vernacular over a period of time.

I believe it's pretty much as Terry describes. These plugs are really a PRODUCTION necessity for a complex SAND casting like a cylinder block or some cylinder heads.

I have never really believed that there's any way that these plugs would protect a block from damage in freezing conditions. In other words, there's no way that they would "pop out" or otherwise relieve the stress created when liquid in a block's cooling system expands due to freezing conditions.

I have seen many frozen engines in my life and have seen a plug pop out of one, a 1945 Willys MB military jeep.