Going to do it over a few days...one handed so as to not over exert myself.

The Patient: 69 Charger 440, 4 core Radiator, factory cast iron housing/pump. Viscous Clutch. 7 blade fan, and aluminum heads. I havent EVER flushed the block (been driving her for 12 years but only have 17,000 miles on the motor). Been drained twice due to manifold flange repair....and second for head replacement.

I wanna get the goo and gunk out of the block. I have it currently at a 50/50 mix but with crappy pre-mixed coolant (all they sold here). My Radiator Cap's sacrificial anode doubled in size, subsequently checking the pH level gave me 7.2.

I have REAL Prestone pure Glycol. I have a Prestone system flush+cleaner. VP Racing Cool Down (not sold anymore) I also want to swap out to my cast aluminum housing and water pump from Mancini since it has the anti-cav plate on the pump.

In my infinite knowledge. I want to drain the cooling system, raising the back end off the ground to drain as much of the block as possible. Fill it with the system flush and cleaner, top it off with tap water...drive it, get her hot...cool down...drain the system again. Remove/Replace water pump run compressed air into the engine block. Let it air dry for a day or two. Come back, install the new water pump, fill it with 2 gallons of pure Prestone....Now...some people have told me to use De-Ionized water (for irons) because Distilled water is still impure. Any thoughts on that? I also want to throw in one bottle of VP Cooldown to keep my temps down. When I first built the engine, I had my cooling system at 170º-180º all day long. In traffic, driving, uphill....I would never break 190º. I find the system has slowly climbed over they years to 220º hence, its time for a flush and seriously, that 7.2pH level scares me. I have another sacrificial anode for the radiator and I also plan on putting a zinc anode in the Mancini water pump housing.

Is any part of my drain/restore process incorrect?

Pull the 2 plugs that are in the block.They are by the motor mounts and usually a bear to get out.Raise the back of the car and flush out thru them.Most I have pulled are plugged and require a punch or so to get the crud away from the hole.Rocky

What Rock said pull the side freeze plugs and tow it to a car wash & blast the innards with the wand. Before that yes I would use a caustic cleaner & not sure which type would be the best & if it is possible to use one that is too corrosive tho when you make an informed choice I'd wanna leave it in there for longer than what you mentioned tho that would depend on what type/strength of cleaner you end up going with. I've heard something about the ionized water also. With it cleaned then k.i.s.s. good green Prestone/ionized (or distilled) water whichever your choice ends up being/sacrificial anode. reportedly a few drops of dish soap is good for a water wetter for heat transfer and a bit of baking soda for acid neutralization. I wouldn't go crazy with any non standard ideas. Sounds like you have a bit of OCD, I can relate

I wouldnt pull freeze plugs.Only if they are bad.Im talking about the 2 9/16s headed ones that screw into the block.I do mine usually every 3 years or so.Most time if they havent been out when they unscrew they are plugged.A blunt screwdriver usually pops the crap from the hole.Rocky

Oh those "plugs" are easy...I put radiator petcocks on both sides so i can drain it if need be...forgot about those...i'll crack loose those with some super penetrant before starting the job then let those drain first before dumping the block. I have a 5HP Karcher Gas Powered Pressure Washer. I can hook that up before the compressed so I can get everything out. I was going to pull the heater core hoses and slip one into a bucket and feed some tap water (low pressure) to get the dirty crud out of there too.

Hose in rad with no stat water running and motor running also gets the crud out.With the block plugs draining.Rocky

If you want to clean out the rust and sludge use vinegar, fill it up. let it sit for 1-2 days, rinse it out and refill with coolant. there won't be anything but good clean stuff inside when you are finished.

I use a hose adapter to the top radiator hose with 1/4" port for compressed air. 1 1/2" PVC or iron pipe is about the right size for the radiator top hose. Pull the stat, hook the top hose up to the engine and water hose adapter and let the block fill full. Then turn the air on and blast the water and crud out. Repeat until it is clean.

This is a homemade version of a setup a saw a radiator shop use once.

I'll add I once used a strong cooling system cleaner per directions. It helped some with cleaning but I spent several weeks after fixing leaks. It was hard on seals and gaskets. Since then, water and air only for me.

Whats the consensus on the water for final filling?

Distilled or DiIonized?

Yes, what he said. If not concerned with freezing I'd do a 20-25% antifreeze mix.

Not trying to hijack the post, but have a question for ahy: do you leave the lower radiator hose connected to the radiator when you blast out the crud with water and compressed air? If so, does it blast some of the crud into the tubes of the radiator?

Not a hijack at all. You'd wanna take off the lower hose from the rad & cap it or better yet take off that hose & cap the pump lower nipple so you can fill the system then blast it all it out of there

I have installed these on various autos for some 30 or 40 years. Have had excellent success and makes for a very rapid effective flushing. Makes regular flushing almost a pleasure. I do start and run engine while flushing,,,don't forget to open heater valve.

http://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AF-KIT-Fl...howViewpoints=0

My 43 year old Vette still has original radiator and heater in perfect condition as is so convenient to regularly flush system.

If you do not wish to leave permenantly attached under your hood,,,you can place a short piece of heater hose on one side of it in order to do a temp install,,,you can figure out the math.

De-ionized water is fine and recommended. I use my Spotless Water system for this. Put one one your Xmas wish list.

http://www.crspotless.com

I emptied the cooling system. Had to bring a friend to help me because my hand just doesnt have the strength yet for the lower radiator hose. Collected the old Green stuff into bottles. Looks like a normal color to me. I reconnected the hoses minus the thermostat and filled it up with white vinegar, turned on the engine, got rid of the air pockets...added more vinegar...gonna let it sit overnight...drain it in the morning....connect hoses again, run the Prestone Flush and tap water....run it...get the remaining crud out of there and then Friday I'll install my new pump.

So I saw little orange bits floating in my radiator as the Vinegar was doing its job....I ran the engine to get it flowing into the heater core. I let it sit 12 hours....emptied today....I removed the water neck and there was crud in the pump. I flushed it out with tap water....Then I threw the Prestone Flush and cleaner...got her up to 140º and checked if the level went down...nope...did turn a frothy white...closed off the radiator....I ran her for 20 minutes and she didnt break 175º...Tomorrow is another full flush with tap water....and flushing the heaterbox out to get any remnants of that gone. Then topping up with 50/50.

The flush fitting that was posted above looks like it would do the job easier in the future but it's one of those things that steals the eye in my engine bay.