1) does the frost plug heater also heat the jelly-like sludge that will be my oil at those temps

2) How would you drain coolant to proper level, and can you re-use it?

Depends where the plug is on the block - I seem to remember the V6's being not that far down, but I could be wrong there (its been a few years now since I had a gasser) - regardless though, just open the drain cock on the rad, recover the coolant into a rubbermaid container, r&r your freeze plug/blcok heater, "reinstall" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> coolant.

But have a look at your frost plug first: assess its accessibility (<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" /> heheh - are you confused?) AND make sure you do the right one - fp block heaters want you to use a specific freeze plug, and install the element in a specific position (mine had to be at 9:00, but it varies)... you probably know this already, though.

Yeah in the archives somewhere I think I saw 6:00 for the inline 4. I have to go look again... You have a URL for where to purchase by chance? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Wish I could help you there... I got mine at Canadian Tire... unless you wanna do some cross-border shopping? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />