My previous engine shop put a plug in the block where the water spicket should be. When I was finally able to drill out this plug since of course it didn't just come out, NO water came out with it. It took thick safety wire and lots of prodding to get the black gunk to finally break loose. I don't know if this would change the heating/cooling characteristics of the engine block to the degree it would matter, I am just offering this because I made the mistake of not removing the spicket and freeze plugs before having them do their cleaning on my first rebuild many years ago. I make sure this is done nowadays. There is a degree of looking out for yourself when taking your engine to a machine shop. I just didn't know!
