Oil Galley Plug Fun!!!

[altair]

All the plugs on my 60+ year old engines are square, so I bought a square socket set (sometimes called 4 point) to remove them.

[PackardV8]

Someone had tried to remove these galley plugs at one time and left me perfectly round holes instead of something a hex head socket would fit into. So, out with the mig welder to attach nuts onto the plugs. The first one at the rear of the engine went easy enough. The second one, hidden behind the freeze plug, well not so easy. It took a few tries to get a nut welded on. Surprisingly, the small ones and the rear of the engine oil galley came out without too many problems.

We just start with the hot wrench. If the square hole is still there, heating the area red hot is usually enough to loosen them.

If it wasn't for the cleaning and prep work, building engines would be a lot more fun.

For true! That's what I say to my machinist every day; When it's all finally disassembled and clean, the machine work and assembly is cake.

Watching those videos of NASCAR team clean rooms and the Corvette engine assembly area is a different world. Working with clean, new parts seems like cheating.

jack vines

[53commander]

Welding a nut on definitely works but I've had great success using a Gator Grip socket on those plugs.

[swvalcon]

welding a nut works good. I had the same thing happen and just drilled a hole in the center of them, heated them a little and used a easy out.

[starliner62]

It never fails that something always pops up when working on 50+ year old stuff. Someone had tried to remove these galley plugs at one time and left me perfectly round holes instead of something a hex head socket would fit into. So, out with the mig welder to attach nuts onto the plugs. The first one at the rear of the engine went easy enough. The second one, hidden behind the freeze plug, well not so easy. It took a few tries to get a nut welded on. Surprisingly, the small ones and the rear of the engine oil galley came out without too many problems.
This block had been dipped in a 55 gallon drum of industrial cleaner and soaked for a few days, then into the "dishwasher" high pressure cleaner. Once I got the galley plugs out, I ran a brush down the lifter galleys. I was amazed and the amount of nasty crud that came out. back into the dishwasher for another round of washing, then to the boring bar.
If it wasn't for the cleaning and prep work, building engines would be a lot more fun. Oh, the rocker arm shafts were so nasty, I had to almost drive the cleaning brush through them.