429 Thunderjet Question

I am restoring a 1970 T-Bird that has a 429 Thunderjet in it. The guy that is helping me restore the car said the freeze plugs on the engine are gone or rusted out. Does anybody know if these are hard to replace or would I need to take it to a machine shop to have them replace them?

If you can actually get to them, they are easy to change. The old ones can be punctured them pried-out with a screwdriver... then the new ones are carefully tapped in with a hammer. It helps to use a big socket that is the same diameter as the plug.
Place the plug in the hole by hand. Then place the socket over the plug and tap the socket. This allows the plug to be driven into the hole evenly.

On that car, you have to do this underneath. You might need to remove the exhaust manifolds and/or starter motor to reach the rear ones.

BTW are the old ones leaking, or have holes? Usually, if there is some surface rust, but no leaks.... and you cannot poke a screwdriver through them, they are okay.

I don't think they are there at all. From what the mechanic was saying they are rusted out and not there anymore. I wonder if I should go ahead and pull the whole engine and go through it piece by piece. Do you think I should pull it, clean everything, evaluate it and assess the damage?

How in the hell did they get that rusty under the hood in a carport/garage in texas?

Did your grandma by chance drive that in the ocean a lot?

Yeah, grandma was an avid fisherwoman and would often take the ole' T-bird down to the bay and fish for speckled trout and redfish. If they weren't biting she would hook the jumper cables up to the battery and throw the other end into the water and rev the engine up real high to get the alternator pumping that much more juice. You would be suprised at how bouyant the 1970 model T-bird actually is.

In all seriousness though the car was an hour from the coast and believe it or not a hurricane has come through Texas before. Wild huh.