Source for better freeze plugs

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
bryanbdp
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:04 pm

There abouts. Good stuff though.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by Bruce W » Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:09 pm

Please don't hit a hammer with another hammer! Unless there's something you really like about gunshot wounds, etc.
Two hardened surfaces striking one another can chip one or both, and the flying chips can be just like bullets. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!".
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:59 pm

Yes, you're right. Standard safety practice. I have yet to see a hammer explode, but it could happen. It was expedient and it worked.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by '42 Peep's Motorpool » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:22 pm

Brass is a tough one, I can see Joel's point - you don't want to get complacent and forget to flush the block (and remove the plugs). Interesting point, and interesting topic.

The GPW engine I rebuilt actually came to me with the plugs in backwards, they were just sitting in there. :lol: :roll: The previous owner didn't seem to know or care I guess. Anyway it's possible to 'set' them too much which will make them loose again.

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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by Bill H. » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:51 pm

OP, did you by chance check with RFJP.com? You know, they guy who owns this site you are posting on?
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:53 pm

Yes. They didn't have brass. I did advise them of the Melling ones
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by Joe Gopan » Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:38 am

Brass is not necessary and there is a trick to properly "set" them.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by dpcd67 » Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:15 am

My wife had a piece of hammer shrapnel removed from her wrist, from us changing U joints on a 260Z. Long ago.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:43 am

Here's a photo of the one that popped out. I thought the dimple was adequate.
20210408_104135.jpg
20210408_104413.jpg
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by '42 Peep's Motorpool » Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:49 am

Bryan, it might be that the dimple being off center nearer the edge was a problem. I've noticed a little variation in the blocks where the lip is for the plug, some seemed to barely have a lip, and some seemed to have a 'ledge' that stuck out maybe an 1/8". I center the dimple on mine and never have had a leak or loose plug yet. I may just be fortunate though :lol:

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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by dpcd67 » Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:43 am

That dimple is too much; it reversed the dome and made it loose again. As for a ledge, never saw one; all I ever built was flat sided in the block recess. If they had a ledge, that would be fantastic.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:47 am

I thought it could have been dimpled more. It has a deep center dimple, but the rest of the plug is still convex, not really over centered.
Granted, tough to see in photos.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by Bill H. » Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:50 am

That dimple is way too much. It really does not take much at all.
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"Each shall seek his own kind, in other words, a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together?" Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by dpcd67 » Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:09 pm

Get out your dial caliper and measure it; then measure a new one, or the hole.
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Re: Source for better freeze plugs

Post by bryanbdp » Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:08 pm

New plug measures around 1.253
Old plug is around 1.256
I don't think it expanded enough.
+/- .003 isn't a lot to lock it into the hole. Especially as the hole is a little rough, and so is the plug from being sheared and formed.
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