Back in the day, there was a post about a drain hole plug back on Tapatalk, I wanted to expand and share more information on some rubber plugs that aren’t easy to find. These plugs, like any rubber item, deteriorate over time. If left alone, they’ll dry rot and become brittle. Throughout this long post, I’ll have to make some assumptions.
The first plug is located within the cowl pillar on the floor pan.
Wade’s cowl pillar
I believe this is the Cowl Pillar Plug, part 674268, as best I can tell. This hole passes through the hat channel reinforcement. Since I have little documentation other than my trusty SM and PM, I deduced this hole had some sort of temporary use during assembly, i.e. for alignment (see also the holes up front under the toe board gusset that go through the front end of the hat channel). If so, once the tub was assembled, this hole needed plugging.
During disassembly, I couldn’t remove the plug in one piece as it was brittle. From underneath I noticed it sticking out of the hat channel (really long plug?). Since it was brittle, I decided to cut the head off and push it out through the bottom. What came out were 2 plugs, one stacked on top of the other. Without comparing multiple floors, I can only assume this was done originally to keep water out from the top and also from the bottom.
The other plug was found under the toolbox right next to the angled bend in the tub side-panel. I think this is part 671564. It’s the only other listed plug for the floor and both of these plugs are in the same group, 31-09 – FLOOR AND UNDERBODY.
Makes sense to me; the toolbox could collect and hold water and the owner would need to have a way to drain it. My PO (I’m sure his intentions were good) punched 2 holes through the toolbox floor to assist with draining – with a rubber plug just inches away, still intact. Amazing. Although, had he pushed the plug out, it no doubt would have been lost or not replaced and I would not know what to look for.
Like the other plugs, this toolbox plug was brittle so I also cut the flat head off to remove it.
Wade’s plug from below and inside toolbox
Now I’ve got two different plugs (hard as rock) cut in half that needed replacing. First, I needed a source for grommets and plugs. Google returned several sources but I spent most of my time surfing through Steele Rubber Products:
http://www.steelerubber.com/What I initially liked about them was they listed specification sheets where you could look up plugs based on hole size and other dimensions.
Next, I needed to measure these removed plugs. I took several measurements from each plug type. I also measured the holes the same way. Taking into consideration that the factory used common parts when able to probably save on production costs, I assumed these plugs wouldn’t be odd or special, i.e. common sizes and most probably parts that were already available. So, after allowing for slight deformation in my measurements, I contacted Steele Rubber with questions.
After several conversations with a company representative, I placed an order. These are the plugs I received.
As you can see there are some minor differences in appearance but they do fit in the holes. I have completed several “test fits” to see if they would work. I went back shortly after testing these plugs and ordered a second set of the small plugs for the cowl pillar holes so I can plug the bottom holes of the hat channels as well as the upper holes in the floor pan.
Since doing this, I see that Steele Rubber Products’ website has changed a few times. Instead of being able to look up specs, they now want you to look up items by vehicle or you can search the plugs/grommets themselves. What I found is that searching the actual grommets/plugs each will give you the dimensions in the products description.
Hopefully, this will help anyone wanting to replace old plugs when needed.
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