Hello guys, I have a couple of questions i was looking for a camaro and I found a 77 that bone stock and had only one owner for $500(Is that a good deal?). So I was wanting to get this car but the seller told me that it has a freeze plug rusted out. well my question was how hard is it to do on this car? would i have to take the motor out of the car to do because i had some people tell me that you have to and some tell me that you dont. And would i have to replace the other ones? If so how many others are there? Im also pretty new to domestic cars, only having worked on hondas, but have been wanting to get away from them and into chevys for a long time. Any help would be appriciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

$500 isn't a bad deal, as long as it isn't a real hulk.
There are two casting (freeze) plugs on each side. How hard it is to replace depends on which one is bad. Each side has one in the clear, and one underneath the motor mount, so the mount would need to be removed and the engine supported to access it if that's the leaker. Just because one is bad, doesn't mean they all are, but the others could be going bad. You would have to get under there and look. A heavily gunked up engine actually helps to prevent the plugs from rusting, so it depends. And you don't need to take the engine out to replace them either. If access is too tight for installinga conventional steel plug, the expandable type plugs actually work pretty well.

 

Thanks for the help! Im gonna go take a look at the car on Thursday but I have seen some pictures of it and it doesnt look bad at all. It just needs a little body work that i think i can handle. He also just put in new metal floorboards, a z28 hood, and the interior from an 82 camaro i think he said. He said that he also has the new plug its just that hes too old to do it himself and doesnt really want the car anymore so he doesnt want to pay someone to put it in. He also told me that it was sitting for a few years then he just started to work on it again for his son but just couldnt finish.

Another question I have is getting the plug out. From what Ive been told i just need to take some vise-grips, a hammer, and a flathead screwdriver and then just bang it out. Is this the best way to do it or is there a better way? Again thanks for the help.

 

Instead of me explaining, this link will tell it better: www.econofix.com/frezplug.html
It also explains why those holes are in the block in the first place. A lot of people think that those holes and plugs are there as a precaution against block freezing, but they are actually part of the casting process, and not put there for freeze prevention.

 

either way, they have saved me once in the past because the block froze and those popped out and saved the block