Random part in the oil pan 1980 255

[dlhmatt]

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E0SE-A2E block in my 1965 Mustang coupe.
Turns out to be a 1980 Thunderbird 255.
Hooked up to a c4 automatic.

Dropped the oil pan today because there is leakage around it and I wanted to check the bearings out on the big ends of the connecting rods. Mmm nice and tight so I think the knocking I hear is the flex plate bolts coming loose. Drained the oil before pulling the pan and let it sit for a while. Sloshed the little puddle of oil to see if it was sparkling and saw a hunk of metal in there.

There was a cap or hole plug or something in the bottom of the pan just hanging out. It is stamped 1/2 inside the cup.
Anyone see this part before?

 

[Russellbird]

Looks like a freeze plug, no idea why it was hanging out in the oil pan.

 

[dlhmatt]

Yes Russelbird. I just found out that the SBF engineers in their ultimate wisdom used these to cap off the oil gelleys. Some may be covered by the cam cover plate but one is not. This could have been one that popped out before I owned this car or (most likely) this one popped out and it isn’t tripping my oil pressure lamp due to bad lamp or wiring.
Time to rip off the couple month old water pump and timing cover I just redid to fix coolant leaks and tap this with a 1/4 - 18 and use a screw plug and sealant.

 

[dlhmatt]

Oil pan back on after evapo-rust then painting. Installed an oil pressure gauge in place of the oil pressure sending unit. No spark plugs in and spinning the motor with the starter builds 55psi. Thoughts or opinions?

I found this old old post on another forum:
“When I lost a galley plug in my FE I had no pressure and I heard my valve train clattering at idle (that's what alerted me to my gage reading zero and I shut it off).”

 

[captrick]

While you still have the oil pan down check the crankshaft offsets where the rods are on. When they drill out the oil passages in the crankshaft they install those freeze out plugs in the holes. Make sure they are all in place that could be the reason for the lose of oil pressure. Good Luck Rick