Holy poop, cooling sludge.

[///Matt]

So, I'm mid-rebuild, motors out and apart... Freeze plugs looked ok, but I figured, meh lets change em. Bear in mind, I've spent all my money on rebuild parts, the motor mic's out solid, so I opted to not take it in for thermal/machine work.


HOW WAS MY ENGINE COOLING AT ALL? Ha. Guess its an awesome thing I decided to make the smart choice.

 

[66Satellite47]

Good thing! I always replace the freeze plugs when the motor is out unless I know how long they've been in there. It's no fun after it's in the car & the dripping starts. usually use the brass ones.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Go with the Evans waterless coolant it will not corrode the metal and save your block. expensive but is a lifetime coolant never have to change it.

 

[rscurtis]

X2 on the Evans, I run it in my Mercedes and standby generator. The Coronet will get it too when I take it apart.

 

[YY1]

You should have seen what came out of my 318.

Literally piles of rock like chunks and dust, after scooping out a lot of toothpaste consistency stuff.

Ran very cool and only started overheating after the plugs went.

 

[Meep-Meep]

This is good -
http://www.utilityfleetprofessional...maintenance-considerations-for-fleet-managers

 

[mopar 3 B]

So why would you want to spend all your hard earned money on parts and not clean the blocks insides out? Cleaning oil and water passages should be a major part of any rebuild.

 

[///Matt]

Well, the plan was to get it thermal'd, machined, etc. But it mic'd good, and the quote from all my local machinists was just obscene for cleaning. $400 to thermal clean and shot the block? No thanks, I'll do it with elbow grease. Then I spent much more than I anticipated on the rebuild parts, especially as things kept looking ok at first, then becoming apparent they needed replacing. But there is tons of space inside the cooling pssages that I'm confident I can get it all cleaned out. I got some 302 heads to throw on there that I was gonna up the valve size on, but instead I'm going to run them normally, and have them machined out at a later date.

Also tackling the transmission rebuild and new converter. Add to all this that I'm trying to get this all done as quickly as I can so I don't end up with "well, I had this project but lost interest over the last several months/years".

 

[mopar 3 B]

That about like eating on a dirty plate because of the price of dish soap and then paying the hospital thousand because you got sick.

 

[///Matt]

Except I am cleaning the block out. Not everyone has the ability to bake/tank/tumble/etc.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Man just strip it down remove the soft plugs etc and get your pressure washer hook it to your hot water tank or dont, better if you can. Spray that sucker down.

Go into the oil galleys with galley brush set

Even after you bring a new block home from the machine shop it will require a baby bath typically.

 

[moparmarks]

For 40 years I've always use distilled water with the antifreeze, 50/50. No minerals means no corrosion. I've had cars with over 300,000 miles with original radiators with no corrosion. Cooling jackets are clean as a whistle.