JDaniel64

Today was nice enough to change the plug finally. Here are some pictures of the old plug (right) and the new plug (left).

After I cleaned all the old crud off the old core plug I saw that it most likely wasn't original, and that the indentation necessary to completely seal/lock the plug in place seemed insufficient (almost looks like a toothed masonry chisel was used). 

Here is the uncleaned opening for the old plug right behind the oil filter. (Please forgive the dirty engine)

And here it is after cleaning with #0000 steel wool and isopropyl alcohol.

Now the pipe dope, a little messy but wiped some away after the picture was taken. 

New plug popped in!!! Started with a 1-1/2 ratchet socket to seat it but come to find out that was too big (was thinking that since the plug was 1-5/8 that a 1-1/2 ratchet socket would seat it, right? Nope, the INSIDE diameter is 1-1/2 but the outside diameter is not, it's over 1-5/8, duh...), so used a 1-1/8 and after a few whacks with a hammer it was in. 

Pipe dope cleaned off.

Now here is where it got interesting, indenting the plug to seal/secure it. Hammer-on-hammer was a no-go, not enough room behind the oil filter. What I settled on was a ~8" x 1/2" piece of rebar and a sledge hammer (using the side), a few hits and misses later I got the amount of dent-age I was looking for. It has held for over 3 hours, both idling and driving with no leaks, so I think it is a mission success!! Thank you guys for the responses, you made a depressing problem into a pretty easy repair!