Cool, Thanks for confirming on the plugs. Do you still think the motor should be hot using a ratchet or would I be good to go? Trying to avoid messing with petcock and running it half full for air etc being trapped.
Heres a pic of the 7 that came out without a problem with the Aircat. There was nickle anti seized used before. 54k on them

 

Even the easy ones are time consuming

 

id suggest draining at petcock to: 1) eliminate chance of antifreeze in wells (you’ll chase misfires later), 2) good to keep petcock working so it won’t seize later when/if needed 3) get a sense of your fluid 4) you will likely have some air in system when you change hose anyway snd if applicable, 5) opportunity to pop in new tstat.

just curious, why’d you decide to change plugs out “early” (sssuning just to prevent seize/difficulty later)?

 

I wanted to get a couple things done now that i'm going back into the office 3 days a week. Last item was the plugs. Just doing some preventative maintenance on her.
Appreciate the advise to swap out the tstat. But tstat, upper, lower hoses and petcock screw are alll within 2 yrs old.

Hopefully getting the heater hose tomorrow and I can wrap it up . Thx again everyone

 

I wanted to follow back up in case anyone else needs to do this.
With the motor cold i opened the petcock and drain the radiator.
I found 11" long 90 degree bent needle nose pliers works perfect to disconnect the quick disconnect. Just keep twisting and pulling while pressing the pliers and it'll come off. Make sure to take the old quick disconnect off it will stay on. Putting on the hose is easy.

Figured the other 7 plugs came out so easy, why not try on a cold motor. So I did. I couldn't get my stubby impact in #4 to get the plug out. So I used a 18" 3/8 drive flex head rachet with the otc 6900 and a 3" extension. Came out easy.
Below is a pic of the $48 heater hose on amazon and the most current plugs. They were $125 at auto zone.
Hope this helps.

 

I’m glad all is well. Darn plugs don’t play easy