Cooling question...I've pulled the engine (got it running before pulled, no knocks, smoke, etc.) and am in the process of looking things over and hope to simply clean the engine, replace gaskets, etc. The car had sat up for a number of years (10+) and I had to replace one of the freeze plugs and found that another had been replaced some time in the past.

When I pulled out the freeze plugs and inserted my finger I found a muddy, grit material. What's the best way to flush this out? My plans are to pull the oil pan, valve covers / intake manifold (have a friend scope the engine) and see what the overall condition is before breaking it down further.

What's the best / logical way to proceed?

Thanks all.

Before you take anything apart you might want to flush the cooling system. Get one of those Prestone flush kits and use a garden hose. Once you take the engine apart it's really hard to clean it without completely stripping it to the bare block. Doing it assembled also cleans the radiator, which is probably just as dirty as the engine.