"Hidden" oil galley plug question

[DN7050]

Rebuilding a 1998 Vortec 5.7. Removed all the oil galley plugs for cleaning and found that the main oil galley running vertically from the oil pump to the oil pressure sender (and the oil galleys around the cam) had a large steel ball used as a plug between the oil filter send and return passages rather than the typical soft plug. I have not seen any reference to using a ball bearing as a galley plug at that site or elsewhere on the engine. Is that a standard practice on the 1998 5.7 and why would it be used rather than the more typical press in plug? Can it be replaced with a standard plug (or threaded for a 1/4" pipe plug as done on earlier SBC engines?

 

[88monteSS]

I'll have to see if I can find it again, but I was watching one of karl ellwein's videos on the lt1 & it had something like that.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[88monteSS]

Found the video I was thinking of. GM borrowed the head chambers from the LT1 to make the vortec heads, maybe they decided to borrow that too. Or possibly someone else has already been into your motor & did it.

Skip to 15:25, I tried posting the direct link to the time, but the forum stripped it out.

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[DN7050]

Thanks. That's helpful. Apparently its a good thing. Will put it back in.