[Mustard72]

Mine always ran around 190, but had a 190 thermostat, too. That started sticking for a little while before I tore the truck apart, so it would get up around 230 or so for a few minutes before the thermostat would pop open after which time the temp would drop back down to the 190 range. My cam bearings in the block have some burnt oil looking deposits on them now. Not sure if that is really normal or what it is from (could be the thermostat sticking problem, too, I guess). The truck was always HARD to crank when warmed up, too, but, again, I had suspect starter connections, and numerous other conditions that could cause that. One way or another I'll fix that, too.

The head gaskets that were on the engine had tiny (about 1/8" diameter) holes to apparently restrict the amount of coolant going to the head. Is that normal? It seemed goofy to me to have large coolant passages in the head and block and then have a gasket with an 1/8" hole restricting that flow. I thought I had pictures on my phone of this, but apparently not.