I've rented an engine hoist for the weekend, thinking that I had everything bolted up and nothing overlooked, when I came across this:



The area circled in red is what I'm clueless about, and the area circled in yellow is the hole for the distributor hold-down brace.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'd really appreciate a response or two - the quicker the better. Thanks in advance.

- 89_IROC

 

To me it looks like the EGR hole for a vette.

 

That's what I thought before I posted (I read SDPC's blurb), but I'm not very "car smart" yet. My guess is that I can block this off, but do I need a special plate or is there another way to do it?

I'll order a block-off plate if I have to, but I'd rather not wait. Any more suggestions/tips? Thanks for your response, TPIgirl

Since you did respond, I'll direct this next question at you: on the same baseplate, there are a total of 4 holes on the front. The one just under the thermostat housing is for the coolant temperature sensor (unless I'm mistaken), but there are 3 others to the right of this - two are threaded and look to be just a bit bigger than 3/8" and the other one is approximately 9/16" and has no threads. Do you have any ideas on these? Thanks in advance for your, and anyone else's, response(s)...I appreciate the help.

- 89_IROC

 

My intake has two holes for coolant temp sensors but only one is used & one is plugged. A third hole is the coolant exit for the heater hose. If you have an unthreaded hole into the coolant passage then you better plug that one up too. I would tap it and use a plug.

Oh and I would make a blockoff plate rather than buying one. Sometimes Autozone has fuel pump block off plates for Fords are similar in shape to an EGR valve.

 

TPIgirl, you ROCK. I should easily be able to drop the engine in this weekend, then. Your replies saved me $35 on the hoist rental (since I had to reserve it) - thanks again. I'll check Autozone for that block-off plate.

Now that you've mentioned tapping it, is there any danger in doing that while the intake is on the block? I've taken that thing off and put it back on 3 times already due to GM's bolt kit issue and I'd really rather not remove it again. I'd sooner find a freeze plug that fits than remove the intake. Thanks again for your replies - you've been enormously helpful. The Tech Help folks at SDPC apparently can't be bothered with these questions

- 89_IROC

 

great! no problem.
I bet you could tap it while installed. It should be easy since it's aluminum.