Freeze plug tool. Order one or make it yourself?

Kevin 007

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Now I hear the block heater port DOESN"T require the proper tool for installing a freeze plug in it...for the early (pre-85) 6.9l blocks. Is this true? I have seen a few early 6.9's with a freeze plug in the heaters spot due to the potential cracking of the block webbing with the use of a block heater. I have actually installed a regular 1-1/2'' plug (IIRC) in that port due to a leaky block heater that had to come out ASAP. Did this a 1am one day in January in a blizzard to have the truck on the road next morning, and of course; a regular plug was all i could get my hands on at that hour. The owner of that truck has not had an issue since, this was 3 years ago.
 

Knuckledragger

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It is true. The block heater hole is bored 1 1/2 straight through. I think it is that way on all of the engines.
 

towcat

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Unless they get it on the hook before you get a price. Then it is easily 5 times that
it's five times that if you got the towtruck called in by PD or HP. police towing rates are astronomical(but that's how I make a living).
 

icanfixall

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The block heater location will take a standard cup type freeze plug but that the only block location that will take it. All other 7 block plugs are the special concaved type that require the use of the special tool for installation. My fee for the tow to my home as $175.00. I called around plenty too. The fee for the storage lot was horrible too. It was there 3 days but they clipped me for 4 days on a technocality.... ********....:mad:-cuss
 

SparkandFire

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The way I see it is this -

At some point all of the special tools needed for unique tasks on these engines will be unavailable from any manufacturer. Whether it be a year from now or ten years from now, OTC will flat out tell you "NOT AVAILABLE" when you call them to order that part number. In my line of work (vintage industrial control systems) I deal with this every day, I can call GE for a Genius handheld programmer and get laughs since most of their sales people haven't even seen one...

We as a collective group have to "get creative" so to speak, when it comes to keeping these special tools available. As mentioned previously, Jason builds a IP wrench of equal or greater quality than the OTC tool, he offers it at a lower price, and it doesn't take him six weeks to get it out the door and delivered to your doorstep.

Any tool is just raw material machined or manufactured to specific tolerances. The OTC freeze plug installer doesn't have some sort of black magic inside it I suspect. Knuckledragger took the time to measure all of these tolerances and provide those dimensions to us. There are a whole bunch of tools that I would love to get my hands on (specifically those lovely red Rotunda Ford IDI tool kits) but I am stuck waiting and wishing that a decent one comes by on Ebay.

I've only been waiting three years or so to get one... :rolleyes:
 

icanfixall

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I will agree with what is posted above. Tools these days aren't going to be around for long. I made a suggestion a few years ago that maybe we as a collective should buy or make up a "special tool box" for our engines. Rotunda really does make a great engine tool box. I have one I paid around $140.00 for and another one just like it I sent to Towcat. Some of them I have seen are missing parts but they are still great to have. I have not used much of mine yet but those tools I did use worked great. Thats because they were designed to work on our engines. The tool to install the front dampner crankshaft seal worked so well I thought I was doing something wrong. If your engine front gear cover is clean look at the three nuts that are welded to the cover around the seal. Thats where the tool fastens to. Then the press part just pushes the seal in place. The kits are a great addition to anyones tool inventory. So why don't we gather up some funds. Buy a tool kit and loan it out to those in need. No real reason to ship the complete box unless your overhauling an engine. But a seal installer or cam gear remover installer would be great to have if you install a typ4 cam. Even a small rental fee could be charged to pay back those that have helped buy the kit. Some of the members here have these kits but they are not going to loan or rent them out. Speaking from experiance about renting tools are timing meters. I know the feeling of someone breaking my tools or meters. And then not telling me about it...:mad:-cuss That really bites.. But I was told that was bound to happen and it worked very well for a long time. But someone ruined it for everyone... They crawl amongsts us...
 

VandalS

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Which direction is the cup plug installed in the block heater hole? Cup in or cup out? Is it just a clean it, permatex it, and drive it in or does it need expanded?
 

rwk

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The holder (the part you hold) is a 1 1/2 inch diameter tube, cut 5 inches long with a 1 inch diameter hole in the middle. The business end (that seats against the plug) has a 5 degree chamfer that approximately matches the crown on the freeze plugs. there is a 1/16 inch flat ring around the chamfer, probably to keep the edge of the chamfer from being beaten up with use or storage. Also on the business end, the outside diameter is cut undersize about 1/32 inch, so it doesn't jam in the 1 1/2 inch diameter hole in the block.

Thanks knuckledragger, the print floating around here of the tool doesn't show the reduced end dia. or the flat on the radius end, I just made up some and did leave a flat, it would be dead sharp otherwise, common sense here, your right, no black magic in these tools as long as the length difference is there so the plug isn't over or under "flexed". I cut the OD at the end -.01 it doesn't go into block very far.
 
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