engine oil gallery plugs

[lpfomoco1]

I"m working on the installation of a 430 mel in a 64 continental. The Engine longblock was already rebuilt but as I was installing the sheet metal and accessories I was priming the oil pump and noticed oil coming from the oil gallery in the distributor hole. I know normally there should be a plug there, it is not threaded so it would have to be a knock in, but I wanted to make sure there was no reason for it to be left out since apparently the engine builder did. If it does need a plug , does anyone know the size? thanks, not wanting to pull the p/s pump and t/cover unless I have too.lol

[Theo]

Hi, my last rebuild is many many moons ago and I can't remember how this area looks like. All I can say is that on an FE-engine which has a very similar lubrication system, the distributor gear drive is lubricated by a pin hole of about 0,039" in size diameter. It is not an unplugged channel.
In your "M-E-L" engine case you better take a close look what's behind that hole. If it's connected to the oil channels it shouldn't be open. I remember a similar environment on an FE engine where a hole is not a channel but where it serves as a tunnel to the next plug. Kind of a hole where you stick your cleaning brushes through.
Maybe you should wait for a a forum participant named "Chris Craft Crazy) who might chime in. He has a MEL engine on the table and might be of help with some close up shots etc.
I think he's gone for a few days during the holidays. Just be a little patient.

[lpfomoco1]

As a follow up, I found a parts car that I took the distributor out and checked with a mirror, Lo and behold there is a plug just as suspected, and with a little brake cleaner spray could even make out the size stamped into the plug.(29/64) So apparently the engine builder left it out. Oh well, just glad to find it now instead of scratching my head later about low oil pressure.

[Theo]

No, in this case you wouldn't have to bother about low oil pressure. You would probably have 30 seconds after start up to hear that engine blow up because of "NO oil pressure".
Glad you found out. Is that area accessible enough to shoot some pics? I think it would be of great help for all other present MEL engine owners and those to come.
Hope the engine builder has worked o.k. on the other engine components. Good luck and Merry Christmas.

[Theo]

I had to go through my own records to recall a few details about plugs. As you can read and see im my MEL engine build up story viewtopic.php?f=42&t=393
There are two plugs that can be easily skipped by accident.
I assume that you were talking about this plug?
Some machine shops ignore it for a simple reason. Too much time involved to remove and to reinstall.
Please take a look at the second photo for an other plug that might get skipped in the process.
Installation seems tricky but is a lot easier than you might expect. Installation of these plugs should take place right after the block cleaning process and right before you put that biest on a stand.
With the engine standing upright on its' bell housing surface the plug seen in photo 1 can be positioned and driven in a lot easier. The same goes with the rear plug (see photo 2) and with the engine standing on its' timing cover surface.
I hope this is going to reach you by time.

[lpfomoco1]

Yes, that is the plug, the one in the front , behind the distributor hole. The rest of the plugs were tapped for 1/4 pipe plugs, all except that one, which seemed to be forgotten alltogether! I build a ton of FE's professionally, and they have the same setup, except that hole is tapped from the factory on the FE's. The engine still showed oil pressure during priming, (60lbs) because of the lifters filling most of the hole and very cold oil, but would have been significantly lower after start up and warm up. It did tempt me to tear down the engine and see if everything else is fine. The distributor also covers up about 90 percent of the oil gallery after installation but that would still bleed by a lot. But anyway a new plug was installed all is back on track!

[Theo]

Good to hear that things are under control. I made this topic a "sticky", for all those who are less experienced.
BTW there ain't too many pro FE builders. Are you running a business?

[lpfomoco1]

Yes, but would rather stay anonymous, I'm helping with a restoration on a 64 cont. convertible and have really had my interest peeked on the mel. I've always been strickly a Ford man, but haven't had a chance to work with the 430 much. I wish I could have started from scratch on the long block, but this project was started some years ago. So i'm building a jigsaw puzzle and just looking for pictures. Thanks for the forum

[Theo]

Yes, but would rather stay anonymous,

Yes, I understand. I was just wondering if we knew each other in one way or the other. Sorry if I sounded investigative. It was not my intention.

.....I've always been strickly a Ford man, but haven't had a chance to work with the 430 much.........Thanks for the forum

Yeah, same goes with me. That's why I created this forum when I stumbled over a MEL engine years ago.
Thanx for the good words. Hope you'll find more valuable information in this forum.