Blew out a freeze plug...

I was going back and fourth through town, and when at my destination, and upon turning off the engine, I heard a great deal of hissing and steam was just billowing out under the hood for at least 4-5 mins. Luckily my end point destination was my Grandma and Grandpa's place, and he just happens to be a certified welder/mechanic.

NE ways, we went to town in his truck to Autozone to get a part to fix it. It was a thick piece of rubber between two plates and a nut-bolt through the middle. When the nut is tightened, the rubber expands and holds in place. (srry, I cannot remember what its called though... lol)

I want to know if this will be reliable enough to keep, or if its just temp? I usually don't go against his judgment, but I just had to ask this time.... I just don't wanna get stuck on the interstate with a debunked engine...

I put a set of those in my bro's XJ, beats pulling the manifolds. No problems.
Supposedly about 10 years ago Ford called out those in a TSB to replace corroded metal plugs. Take that for whatever it's worth.

They're not too bad, but I have a hard time trusting them for anything beyond a band-aid. It's just me.

You'll be better off, if you get the metal replacement, getting brass plugs instead of steel. They won't corrode/seize in the bores, and they'll last longer than the steel.

I'll have to dig around and see about finding a listing of welch plug sizes for the AMC242 - I'm fairly sure I have it around somewhere... I'll put it up on my site once I get sorted (or I'll just measure the things in a loose engine I have around here...)

5-90

I hate to tell you, but if one core plug corrodes through, others aren't far behind! So be prepared; keep a couple of those "band aids" you just used in your tool box.

They work fine with a qualifier, make sure to replace the coolant with a mix of 50/50 antifreeze and DISTILLED water, this will keep corrosion to a minimum. Ideal solution are brass freeze plugs. As mentioned above, if one went the others are probably in similar shape so be prepared with replacements. If you have a day or two it might be a good idea to drop the manifolds and just replace them all at once.