hi Chuck! Yeah it will have freeze plugs and a good idea especially since you are gonna pull the engine out anyway. They will/should get replaced with a rebuild. Ok...I'm out for the night!
edit: Tyler the freeze plugs are like 1.5" diameter(aprox.) they are under the headers, in the side of the block and there should be 1 or 2 in the rear of the block, hiding behind the flexplate.

 

OK, got it. But whats a flex plate?

 

here's an interesting... these guys tore down a 289, and indicated the right bank was coolant starved because the gaskets were on backward:
Small Block Ford Engine Disassembly and Rebuild

"Jeff’s 289 engine failed for two fundamental reasons – the water pump wasn’t installed properly (no
backing plate), and the right-bank cylinder-head gasket was installed backwards. ...In this case, only the right bank ran hot
because a significant percentage of the coolant was allowed to circulate and cool normally."

So there's your answer Jeff, you can do it wrong and if you do it wrong you get something very similar if not what Tyler has going on here.

 

Flexplate is what connects the engine to the torque converter/transmission. in a manual tranny is a flywheel. flywheel is thicker, heavier for the clutch friction material to ride up against. The flexplate is basically round piece of heavy sheetmetal, has holes in it for bolting the torque converter to, bolts to the rear of the crankshaft, the outside circumference is the ring gear for the starter to engage. here is a pic.

 

So as I think I said above (I've been off FTE for a while so hard to remember and no time to reread all of this), I pulled out my engine for overhaul. It has been down at the machine shop for about 4 weeks. Upon removing the intake manifold it revealed some severe blockages in the water passages. So our diagnosis that the engine was running hot and the cooling system was clogged was dead on. I've been in to visit our engine a few times an things are progressing. It was pretty worn. Copper showing on some of the bearing surfaces, valve guides (or was it rod guides?) were worn and some other stuff. Cam shaft was in pretty good shape, cylinders too, but still gonna get a little boring, decking etc. Should be done soon. Got a new dual sump oil res to allow room for the new MII front end I bought. New valve covers that are polished aluminum and say 351 Powered by Ford. Getting a new intake manifold too. Having the block painted midnight blue to match the truck's eventual body color. So that is where the engine situation is...

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