OK, so I'm up in Alaska and it's rather cold (!?)... It was negative-6F today for example. So far my ol' champ 242-Turbo has been starting up just fine, but today it had to struggle a little more noticably at -6F. Since I know from locals around here that it can get down into the -20's here in January, I need to plan ahead for when it gets that cold. Forthwith I have a couple of questions:

1) What are opinions on the "frost-plug" core/block heater elements that one can screw into the "frost plug" hole and then plug in versus those "pad" type elements which glue onto the underside of the oilpan and theoretically heat the oil and then the oil convects a little around the engine? I do like the idea of the oil already being warm at start up...?

2) Part of my decision on which system to go with in the above question is how difficult it might be to reach or access this "frost plug" and screw in the element and cord-kit myself. Can somebody describe to me where to find the plug so that I can look for it and make a judgement? Obviously it's rather cold out and I don't have a heated garage, so I don't want to have to spend three hours out in the cold pulling a bunch of parts out of the way from the top so that I can install the plug unit. Crawling around under on the frozen ground doesn't sound too appealing either, unless it's easily accessible and could be done quickly.

Thanks All!