1950s Freeze plugs

[Roger Zimmermann]

A friend of mine is searching freeze plugs for his 1955 car. They have a diameter over 1 31/64" or 37.7mm. I used to have and sell brass plugs from Dorman, part number 560021, but I'm sold out. By searching in their listing, I don't see them, either steel or brass.
Where do you buy those freeze plugs? There are so many engines from this time which are restored, I doubt that the freeze plugs from this diameter are just dicontinued.

[Jay Friedman]

Roger, those 1 31/64 inch freeze plugs are still sold by the Dorman Company. My '49 uses them too.  Why Cadillac did not make the holes in the block a nominal size such as 1 1/2 inches is a mystery to me.

Here is a link to them on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-555-026-Expansion-Plug/dp/B001C0F76O

[Roger Zimmermann]

Hi Jay!
Nice to hear from you. Thanks for trying to help! Unfortunately, those plus are from the cup style; no good for "our" engines! We have the expansion style.
Will try with another search on Amazone; Ebay gave no result.

[V63]

You could try NAPA as well. I can source if you need me to.

As a side note I know of a 1960 with new freeze plugs but the centers were never 'depressed' which is a disaster waiting to happen.😱
 I am guessing they must be only holding with epoxy?

[Jay Friedman]

Roger, nice to hear from you too.   How many of these does your friend need?

Another solution is to use a rubber and steel plug like this:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-help/hardware---fasteners/expansion-freeze-plug/expansion-freeze-plug---universal/6c9fad9f97a1/dorman-help-expansion-plug/mtm0/02603?pos=7

I have had one of these in my '49's motor for at least 15 years without any problem.  Since it is 1 1/2  inches I ground it down very lightly on my bench grinder to fit into the 1 31/64 inch hole and have never had a leak. I imagine you could also use a lathe to trim it slightly.

Jay

[Roger Zimmermann]

You could try NAPA as well. I can source if you need me to.

Well, you know tha NAPA is far, far away from here! If you can secure 6 pieces, I would be happy. You will have to send them in France, but the financial aspect is between us.
Indeed, I sold 6 brass pieces to my friend; he most probably did not the work correctly as one just went away...Therefore he would like to replace all plugs.
To Jay: as an emergency measure I suggested him the rubber plug. I'm sure he will say "non merci!"

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Roger, nice to hear from you too.   How many of these does your friend need?

Another solution is to use a rubber and steel plug like this:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-help/hardware---fasteners/expansion-freeze-plug/expansion-freeze-plug---universal/6c9fad9f97a1/dorman-help-expansion-plug/mtm0/02603?pos=7

I have had one of these in my '49's motor for at least 15 years without any problem.  Since it is 1 1/2  inches I ground it down very lightly on my bench grinder to fit into the 1 31/64 inch hole and have never had a leak. I imagine you could also use a lathe to trim it slightly.

Jay

While this is an idea I doubt any one of us Cadillac owners whats something "Made in China" stamped boldly on the product. 

[dn010]

You'd simply unbolt the "washer", flip it over so the lettering is facing the rubber, and then put it back together. Problem solved.

While this is an idea I doubt any one of us Cadillac owners whats something "Made in China" stamped boldly on the product. 

[marty55cdv]

  Roger, I had the same trouble last week looking for plugs, I ended up buying this set from Caddy Daddy they are correct for the block and are the shallow type that needs to be expanded after install.  https://www.caddydaddy.com/1949-1950-1951-1952-1953-1954-1955-1956-1957-1958-1959-1960-1961-1962-1963-1964-1965-1966-1967-cadillac-freeze-plug-set-25-pieces-reproduction-free-shipping-in-the-usa.html

[Roger Zimmermann]

Marty, thanks for the link! I almost never search with Caddy Daddy...I will pass the link to my friend. There are too many plugs, but wo cares...
I think the search is over, thanks to all wo tried to help!

[Roger Zimmermann]

You could try NAPA as well. I can source if you need me to.

The problem is solved. I ordered the set from Caddy Daddy as, for an unknown reason, he could not order himself.

[dn010]

Just for anyone reading this in the future, you can also get these in steel, part 550-021.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Dan,

I have always found that the steel replacement Welsh Plugs never last as long as the factory originals.   Don't know why that is, but they always seem to rust faster.   Maybe it is a cheaper replacement material used.

I always use Brass.   Some things need changing.

Bruce.

[dn010]

So far the steel ones are holding up for me, it has been 16 years since I installed them. Back then, no one had the correct size plugs (I had no idea about the CLC at this time). After a bit of measuring the block and online research, all I could find were the Dorman 550-021 plugs to be the correct size, but still - no one had them! What made the story funny - I went to my parts house to see if they could be ordered. I requested "10 Dorman 550-021 expansion plugs" which would take nearly a week for them to receive and were quite expensive considering a metal plug cost less than a dollar back then. After receiving the call to pick them up and arriving at the store, the clerk opened the box and I realized why it was so expensive. Inside the box was 10 BOXES of 10 plugs! I bought them all...