[jumpsoffrock]

OK just got back from a solid 50+mile trip--after switching to a 180º thermo--after a good warm up period I found that, according to the mechanical gauge located after the thermo, when cruising 30+mph, it held a temp of 190-195. But if you let it sit at idle it would typically creep up to 210 but it'd take a solid couple minutes to do this. (for fun)I decided to adjust the idle to make it lower, and it took me about 3-5 minutes of idleing. When I got back in the truck the mechanical gauge said 210+; but in the 15 seconds to buckle up and put into gear, it went to 225. Found that odd.

It took about a mile and a half but eventually got back down to a normal ~195º for the remainder of the trip.


If you look inside the radiator tank you can see the walls and tubes covered--not profusely, but very evident--in calcium, I'm gonna guess previous folks ran garden hose water.
It isn't staying at 180º, but it's holding a nice cruising temp; but its getting a little warm at idle. If I were to take a swing at the issue I'd say it needs a new radiator and it wouldn't hurt to switch the "strait driven" fan for a clutch driven fan. I don't think it needs an electric fan.


One of my main goals with this truck in the next couple months is to give it A/C. I need this thing NOT overheating, so investing in a new fancy-ish radiator was gonna happen anyways.

Thanks everyone for chiming in!