[cheesy]

So, been having overheating problems with the old girl. Found several things, each in itself not a big deal, but taken as a whole, problems.

After speaking with my Dad to see what he’d done, I put in a new thermostat. Still running hot. Tested the old one, and it was good. I put in a new, not rebuilt, water pump. Before installing the pump, I back flushed the block from the drain and the pump side until I got clear water. There was some crud, but not as much as I’ve seen in other engines. There was a good bit of crud in the old pump. Took the car for a ride. Better, but still too hot.

Yesterday, I decided to acid back flush the entire system. Got some more crud out, but not much. Surprisingly, several bug carcasses. Put in new coolant. Went for a ride. Even better, but still too hot for a 160 t-stat. So, in frustration, I broke out my laser temp gun, which I should have done in the first place. Checked the top of the radiator and found the temp twenty degrees cooler than the gauge. Checked at the upper radiator hose and found the temp still lower. So, the temp gauge is also failing. Checked out an NOS gauge. Um, $150 for a seventy year old gauge that might still be NFG. I don’t think so.

Instead, I bought an aftermarket mechanical gauge and will tee it in with the original. We will see how that works out.