Good video. I'm sure a lot of guys aren't aware of that plug or what it does. In our shop, we teach the apprentices to study and learn how an engine gets it's oil to all points. They learn very early, where the galleys run, where and why certain plugs are used. If they don't learn the basics of the oiling system, they'll never build good engines.
wish my shop teach would have mentioned it. probably the only thing i didnt know about the sbc. we only had to test out on a BS 3.5hp rebuild so, the rest was on us. We could make a Pontiac 400 put out 400 to the wheel just with a tune tho. lol
Thanks for that one , I knew about the push plug but never thought you could tap the hole out , but i admit a pipe plug did occur to me as the best way to secure it ...
This 100% works fine on a gen 1, 2 piece rear main seal block. Can say for sure on anything else. Plug measurements are 8 3/8 from top of block and about 1 1/8 from main cap side. I currently have one in my block with no oiling issues
No plug no oil filtration & that's it ! Plug goes into a stepped hole & every block I have seen it is impossible to install it too deep . A stepped hole is why it is impossible to remove it driving it from the bottom . It must be driven out from the top . Re-installation however is a little hard & you'll need a slightly tapered tool to pound it in . & I have never seen one fall out or come loose . & yes you can leave it in when you send your block to the machine shop to be cleaned. Also, remove the other 6 oil lifter-galley plugs & the 1 on top-side & you can leave the one by the filter mount because you can reach that to clean there .. Also get yourself some engine cleaning brushes & go through the entire block front to rear . As for the hole with the suspect plug buy a 30 inch or so 1/4 brake line cut off one end & adapt it to an air spray gun & blow out all the holes real good . NOTE ! " The entire block must be clean before installing the cam bearings & you can NOT get your engine too clean " Clean everything ! If reusing an old iron intake remove the heat shield on the bottom & clean there also . & Clean your valve cover baffles . Clean it all until you can eat off of it !
love the profile pic lol. i gotta 76 about the same color. really needs painted tho. great video, didn't know about this one. one of those things i let the shop take of in past. shame on me i been lucky all this time on the others lol. off to make a blower / brush tool to get all up in there. Keep up the great vids
I just had this plug fall out on my 406. The pressure spiked to 100psi at idle. I found it turned sideways blocking both passages. Just one more thing I can add to the list of things that have only happened to me lol
Hello, if you put a pipe plug into that block you would be below both passages versus in between them. Looking at the exploded drawing of that motor it looks like you’ll end up preventing the oil from first going through the filter. So your motor would end up with unfiltered directly to the bearings. Or am I getting this wrong.
You will not lose you will not lose oil pressure but you'll have no filtration of your oil it will go straight from the pump into the motor the plug is there to Route the oil from the oil pump to the filter from the filter back to the main Oil galley
I did this recently. The first pipe tap I used would not go in far enough before it contacted the sides of the hole and would go no further. I found another 1/4” pipe tap with a reduced upper shaft and it worked just fine.
Cool video. I'm not an engine rebuilder but enjoy the mechanics of motors. Where do the shavings go while you tap the hole ? Do you use a shop vacuum to clean out the metal ?
A sure recipe for early engine failure is to have shavings in the oil galley when the engine is first started. Thus the threads should be cut early in the rebuild process. From this point the block will go to the machine shop and hot tanked and machined as needed. One of the final steps before assembly of an engine is to wash the block and run brushes through all the oil galleys to ensure all harmful particles have been cleaned out.
I have a Vortec block and a 1/4 NPT tap does not fit as well as yours does. I noticed it slid in the hole a little before you even started to turn the tap. Mine is tight from the beginning. Right at the block bearing cap surface. Any ideas/thoughts?
My 350 has sat for some years. I put my Priming Oil Pump (Dist w/o any teeth) in and spun it and Lo! NO Oil Pressure! A mud dauber wasp has invaded my small block! No oil is going to the rockers or anywhere. SO, where do I look? Where can a wasp get into or gain access to an oil galley?! Perchance the oil line for the pressure gauge was left open but looking inside the hole I see nothing.
What you said scars me. I have a big question. What type and amount of crud is inside the engine. If you do get oil pressure, will the stuff wipe out the motor?? I suggest the engine be disassembled and all oil galleys be checked and cleaned.
@@billylowe9631 The engine is on the ground. This is a expensive engine. When I spun the primer and nothing happened I stopped. It's been almost 4 years and now I am going to find and cure the problem. 4 years ago I pulled the heads and oil pan, went thru everything to make sure it was ready to start. (I pulled it out of my 59Vette over 10 years ago ) no pressure...then I moved, busy etc....But now I am going to find that mud dauber.....The engine has not turned over, only the oil pump has turned. Perchance it got into the oil pressure gauge hole but looking down there I see nothing. Maybe pull the pump ,knock the 1/4" plug and look around in there?? Oh, I just saw your channel page.....mine was black, 2x4's etc but I put in the 350. (got more for the 2x4's, in 1999, than my dad paid for the car in 1966!)
That sucks you wrong if you leave that plug out you just won't have your oil filter by the oil filter but if you leave one of the other plugs out you're going to either have oil coming out of the back of the motor or you can have very well-oiled timing chain with no oil pressure
That plug is merely a diverter. It diverts the pressurized oil through the filter before continuing through the engine. Failing to install the plug will result in unfiltered oil going into the engine, but the oil will still get to the engine.
Good video. I'm sure a lot of guys aren't aware of that plug or what it does. In our shop, we teach the apprentices to study and learn how an engine gets it's oil to all points. They learn very early, where the galleys run, where and why certain plugs are used. If they don't learn the basics of the oiling system, they'll never build good engines.
wish my shop teach would have mentioned it. probably the only thing i didnt know about the sbc. we only had to test out on a BS 3.5hp rebuild so, the rest was on us. We could make a Pontiac 400 put out 400 to the wheel just with a tune tho. lol
Thanks for that one , I knew about the push plug but never thought you could tap the hole out , but i admit a pipe plug did occur to me as the best way to secure it ...
This 100% works fine on a gen 1, 2 piece rear main seal block. Can say for sure on anything else. Plug measurements are 8 3/8 from top of block and about 1 1/8 from main cap side. I currently have one in my block with no oiling issues
Thanks for this. I'm building a 98 Vortec and this is just what I needed.
Very informative, thanks for posting!
I’ve been threading that hole for many years, be carful not to plug any thing that shouldn’t be pluged
No plug no oil filtration & that's it ! Plug goes into a stepped hole & every block I have seen it is impossible to install it too deep . A stepped hole is why it is impossible to remove it driving it from the bottom . It must be driven out from the top . Re-installation however is a little hard & you'll need a slightly tapered tool to pound it in . & I have never seen one fall out or come loose .
& yes you can leave it in when you send your block to the machine shop to be cleaned.
Also, remove the other 6 oil lifter-galley plugs & the 1 on top-side & you can leave the one by the filter mount because you can reach that to clean there .. Also get yourself some engine cleaning brushes & go through the entire block front to rear . As for the hole with the suspect plug buy a 30 inch or so 1/4 brake line cut off one end & adapt it to an air spray gun & blow out all the holes real good .
NOTE !
" The entire block must be clean before installing the cam bearings & you can NOT get your engine too clean "
Clean everything !
If reusing an old iron intake remove the heat shield on the bottom & clean there also .
&
Clean your valve cover baffles .
Clean it all until you can eat off of it !
Frfr there's no plug nor cam bearing that's safe if the ock wash is any caustic wash caustic meaning eats up other than cast iron
Seen a lot of crap come out of valve cover baffles.Good advice
Great video!
I have just done this to two of my blocks going to make teardowns easier in the future
love the profile pic lol. i gotta 76 about the same color. really needs painted tho. great video, didn't know about this one. one of those things i let the shop take of in past. shame on me i been lucky all this time on the others lol.
off to make a blower / brush tool to get all up in there. Keep up the great vids
Thank you sir!
I just had this plug fall out on my 406. The pressure spiked to 100psi at idle. I found it turned sideways blocking both passages. Just one more thing I can add to the list of things that have only happened to me lol
That might be what I have going on right now. Thank you
I found your comment hilarious, I have a long list too lol, if your anything like me, it just means you are getting stuff done, be well.
How do you service the oil filter bypass mechanism, how do you get it out and replace it. thanks
Hello, if you put a pipe plug into that block you would be below both passages versus in between them. Looking at the exploded drawing of that motor it looks like you’ll end up preventing the oil from first going through the filter. So your motor would end up with unfiltered directly to the bearings. Or am I getting this wrong.
Thanks for posting! Helped me for sure!!
What if the machine shop doesn’t remove it but removed all the other plugs?
What about after market blocks like Motown and little m???
So it forces oil thru the filter
Is a mark IV big block the same?
Not hidden if you know your small blocks
You will not lose you will not lose oil pressure but you'll have no filtration of your oil it will go straight from the pump into the motor the plug is there to Route the oil from the oil pump to the filter from the filter back to the main Oil galley
I like my comment 😊
punctuation is key.
Which generation motor? I just rebuilt an 05 5.3l. I found the dumbell in the back under the rear cover.
G1
Did you stroke this engine?
If you leave that plug out the oil will bye pass the oil filter. Then you know what will happen to your bearings.It won't take long to ruin your day.
did you use a regular tapered pipe tap or did you use a straight piped tap
Regular tapered pipe tap
Billy Lowe thank you sir awesome video great knowledge happy motoring
I did this recently. The first pipe tap I used would not go in far enough before it contacted the sides of the hole and would go no further. I found another 1/4” pipe tap with a reduced upper shaft and it worked just fine.
Cool video. I'm not an engine rebuilder but enjoy the mechanics of motors.
Where do the shavings go while you tap the hole ?
Do you use a shop vacuum to clean out the metal ?
A sure recipe for early engine failure is to have shavings
in the oil galley when the engine is first started. Thus the threads should be
cut early in the rebuild process. From this point the block will go to the
machine shop and hot tanked and machined as needed. One of the final steps before
assembly of an engine is to wash the block and run brushes through all the oil
galleys to ensure all harmful particles have been cleaned out.
I have a Vortec block and a 1/4 NPT tap does not fit as well as yours does. I noticed it slid in the hole a little before you even started to turn the tap. Mine is tight from the beginning. Right at the block bearing cap surface. Any ideas/thoughts?
AR420 Reading your comment, i noticed another viewer found another 1/4” pipe tap with a reduced upper shaft and it worked just fine.
grind the tap down a bit.
wow nobody heard of compress air ?
wire tube brush.
never seen a plug come .
put a thin film permatex around plug.
see ya in 20 years
My 350 has sat for some years. I put my Priming Oil Pump (Dist w/o any teeth) in and spun it and Lo! NO Oil Pressure! A mud dauber wasp has invaded my small block! No oil is going to the rockers or anywhere. SO, where do I look? Where can a wasp get into or gain access to an oil galley?! Perchance the oil line for the pressure gauge was left open but looking inside the hole I see nothing.
What you said scars me. I have a big question. What type and amount of crud is inside the engine. If you do get oil pressure, will the stuff wipe out the motor?? I suggest the engine be disassembled and all oil galleys be checked and cleaned.
@@billylowe9631 The engine is on the ground. This is a expensive engine. When I spun the primer and nothing happened I stopped. It's been almost 4 years and now I am going to find and cure the problem. 4 years ago I pulled the heads and oil pan, went thru everything to make sure it was ready to start. (I pulled it out of my 59Vette over 10 years ago ) no pressure...then I moved, busy etc....But now I am going to find that mud dauber.....The engine has not turned over, only the oil pump has turned. Perchance it got into the oil pressure gauge hole but looking down there I see nothing. Maybe pull the pump ,knock the 1/4" plug and look around in there?? Oh, I just saw your channel page.....mine was black, 2x4's etc but I put in the 350. (got more for the 2x4's, in 1999, than my dad paid for the car in 1966!)
8 3/8 in from the top measure it with a used rod
So that plug is normal I was thinking it shouldn’t be there. Thanks.
Push plug? We call them cup plugs.
A rose by any other name...
Don't know what happened to the sound
I was
my lt1 has a ball
my sheep has 2 balls.
You will have 0 oil pressure with that plug missing.I learned the hard way.
That sucks you wrong if you leave that plug out you just won't have your oil filter by the oil filter but if you leave one of the other plugs out you're going to either have oil coming out of the back of the motor or you can have very well-oiled timing chain with no oil pressure
That plug is merely a diverter. It diverts the pressurized oil through the filter before continuing through the engine. Failing to install the plug will result in unfiltered oil going into the engine, but the oil will still get to the engine.
It's an oil gallery, not a galley.
Dale Earnhardt was wrong all this time?
0
Good idea bad video