The engine in the 68 is a 73 350. The wiring needed some work, and when I got the temp light hooked up, it came on after a few minutes of running.
I figured out that the sender was for a gauge, not an idiot light, so that’s why the light would show dim, and gradually get brighter. I hit the local NAPA and asked for a new sender for an idiot light, and a new thermostat…but the light still came on.
There’s a show on the 6th I wanted to make (castle in the clouds, moultonborough) so I wanted to solve the overheating before then.
Next up on the hitlist was a new water pump. I mail ordered a new one and a few other bits. The parts arrived on the 1st.
I stripped the front of the engine down on the 2nd to discover I’d mail ordered a short pump by mistake. I called NAPA on the 3rd and they said the long pump wasn’t in stock, but they’d have it by 3pm. My wife stopped by at 3:45…to find a sign in the window saying they closed early at 3pm, and would be closed on the 4th.
A 45 minute drive to the nearest place that was open got me a pump. I spent a few hours on the 4th pulling the rest of it, including pulling the dampener and putting a sleeve on, and a new front seal in the timing cover to (hopefully) cure an oil leak. Then it was clean/paint/reassemble with the new water pump, and wait for the rtv to cure.
Tonight I finished the last of the assembly, put the coolant back in, and took it for a drive around the block…
..and then the temp light came on again…
Something wasn’t adding up. The engine didn’t seem that hot, and my infrared temp gun showed 185.
I pulled out the sales slip for the new sender, and looked up the part number. Sunofabich…it’s for a gauge not a light.
Sooo…going to the show Saturday anyway, temp light and all.