Taking Barnyey's suggestion a step further, you can drill a hole in the
center of the plug and then with the biggest drill you have , enlarge the
hole. You can then use a saber saw to cut towards the threads. Stop short
of hitting the threads and remove the rest with a cold chisel hitting it
inwards towards the hole. If the hole is big enough the plug should fold
into itself.
...Art
On Tue, 30 Dec 1997, Barney Gaylord wrote:
>
> On Tue, 30 Dec 1997 10:39:02 -0800 "Frank R. Krajewski"
> <frankk@businesson.com> writes:
>
> >Looking for assistance in removing the brass oil drain plug from my
> recently acquired 1953 TD. ..... quite a rounded plug at this time. Would
> the application of heat to the plug or the pan (which expands at the more
> rapid rate: brass or aluminum?) be of any value? .....
>
> Whoa there! No sense applying heat to an oil pan full of oil. The oil
> would keep the pan cool while you're heating the plug, the plug would
> expand from the heat while the pan wouldn't, and it would just get
> tighter. You would have to get the oil out first, all of the oil. And I
> don't think sucking it out through the dipstick hole would get enough of
> it out, so you would probably be in for removing the pan first.
>
> Creative suggestion here:
>
> Start by drilling a hole through the plug to let the oil out. If using
> an electric drill, be careful not to get oil into the drill motor. Oil
> is generally non-conductive, so not much risk of a shock, but it could
> screw up the motor if enough oil got inside.
>
> After the oil is out you can go after the plug with heat. Of course have
> a fire extinguisher handy just in case. Plug the oil filler and any
> crankcase vent holes to stop air circulation inside the engine. If you
> manage to ignite the oil in the pan while applying heat, it won't burn
> much without air circulation inside.
>
> The brass is going to expand faster than the steel, so it probably won't
> come loose with heating. It could however come loose with cooling. You
> might try heating the plug and the pan together, then apply Ice to the
> plug, and try unscrewing it with the vice grips while the pan is still
> warm. Gloves would be in order here. If that fails, there's always
> other ways.
>
> As an alternative, drill through the plug to let the oil out, then go
> after the plug with an acetylene or map gas torch. Brass will melt at a
> much lower temperature than steel, so you should be able to melt the
> brass plug and let it drip out of the threads by the time the steel
> starts to glow dull red, much like melting solder. Do not let the molten
> brass drip on you! Also do not heat the steel part beyond bright red or
> you run the risk of distortion in the female threads. The threads will
> probably clean out well enough to screw in a new plug (after cooling),
> otherwise you will have to chase the threads with a tap.
>
> Now tell me it's some really strange thread and you can't get a tap for
> it. For the purpose of cleaning out an existing thread, you can sort of
> make your own tap. You need a steel part with the proper male thread.
> Hand file a notch in two places opposite each other in the leading corner
> of the male thread. The notches will act as cutting flutes on a tap.
> Use the modified part to chase the threads. If that modified part
> happens to be a new steel oil plug, you can probably go ahead and use the
> same part for the working oil pan plug.
>
> This sounds like a bit of a fuss, but if it's a brass plug, and if you
> have a good torch, it should be a straightforward job, pretty easy to get
> it right, and fairly hard to screw up.
>
> Keep us informed,
>
> Barney Gaylord
> 1958 MGA with an attitude
>
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