Need help with B6 oil galley plug

[blkfordsedan]

Ended up doing a complete rebuild on the '89 B6 SOHC for my swap. The B6 appears to have been neglected and was full of carbon and cooked oil. I stripped the block down and am having it machined.

There are (2) bronze plugs that are in the end of the main oil galley that runs along the filter side of the block. The one at the back is obviously behind the bell housing, and the one in front is behind the oil pump assembly. I assumed they were similar to a brass freeze plug, so I drilled a hole in the front plug in order to remove it (to clean out the oil passages). Ends up, it's a piece of solid bronze that's about 1/4" thick.:banghead:

Are these plugs available new, or am I going to have to have some made out of bronze bar stock? Has anyone else gone through this before, and if so, what did you do?

[FestYboy]

those are press fit pieces, you're better off tapping the hole for a pipe plug now.

[blkfordsedan]

Thanks, thats kinda what I figured. You think I could get by with tapping whats left of the bronze plug and using a bronze pipe plug with some liquid metal sealant? Maybe even weld it in? The plug is about 1/2" dia. and I drilled a 3/8 hole.

I guess no one else removes these to clean the oil passages out?

[walth]

very interesting. got any pics of the carnage?

[FestYboy]

Thanks, thats kinda what I figured. You think I could get by with tapping whats left of the bronze plug and using a bronze pipe plug with some liquid metal sealant? Maybe even weld it in? The plug is about 1/2" dia. and I drilled a 3/8 hole.

I guess no one else removes these to clean the oil passages out?

yeah you should be able to get away with that, though i hope someone jumps in here to either verify or denounce (with reasons) that it can be done. i don't see why it can't.

[blkfordsedan]

Took the block to the local NAPA to have it honed ($20.00 Yeah!!). Also took the crank in to have the mains ground .010 and the rod journals polished. The machinist said he's seen bronze plugs like that before. He typically drills a hole in them like I did and then taps them and installs a steel pipe plug w/sealant. Claims he never had any issues....so he's gonna do it for me.

Guess I should have left it alone, but I've seen some of the crap that comes out of oil passages, even after being hot-tanked and blown out with solvent. I've always used engine brushes and scrubbed out every passage before assembly. Considering this engine was full of carbon (even baked on the rods), I didn't want to chance it.

[blkfordsedan]

very interesting. got any pics of the carnage?

As soon as I get all the parts back and everything cleaned up & ready for assembly. I'll probably start a short build thread. It's a pretty basic build, with the exception of some minor block casting clean-up, ported head, intake & exhaust manifolds and a FMS Comp spec cam. Hoping to be between 90 to 95 FWHP when completed.

[gauge_half_inch]

That's a good guess, my 2gen b6 with same mods no tuning hit 96 fwhp 118lb-ft tq

[blkfordsedan]

Maybe after I get some miles on it, I'll take it to the local Dyno shop. I think I can get a 4-hour session package if I take both my Festiva and Mustang. I really wanted to get a little more creative and use longer rods with custom pistons. I pretty much had an idea of what would work, but I just don't have the time or money right now for the extra machine work.
I wish we were able to control spark & fuel curves via flash tuning like with OBDII. I bet with a good tune, 100-110 FWHP N/A B6 SOHC would be easily achievable (although not very cost effective). Maybe some rough fuel tuning can be done by adjusting the spring in the VAF or via an adjustable FPR and a wide band?