so, i have an update: same heat out today as yesterday, 80 degrees. i pulled the thermostat out, with surprising (to me) results. it cooled MUCH better! after warm up and idling in the sun for 15 minutes, it was @ 175 degrees. small drive to heat soak the motor, same as yesterday, about 25 minutes, and it was riding @ 190 to 195. that is about normal for me. (yesterday, i was 215 and rising by now).
then i pulled over on the side of the road, it got up to 200 to 210 or so, but with high idling, i could see it lower. as soon as i was moving on the road again at about 45 mph, right back down to 175! i then came home, and just let it idle in the sun. it peaked at 224. raised the rpm's up, and it started coming back down. yesterday, nothing would bring it back down.....
so, although it goes against me theory, i believe this is happening: my radiator IS efficient, but has a smaller area of cooling. therefore, moving the water through it FASTER, was helping to dissipate the heat better than the water moving slower, which would give it more time to dissipate. (in my mind, slower meant cooling it off more. maybe it would in a bigger radiator. but obviously, the motor is heating the water faster than the 22" radiator with a thermostat could cool it. so goes my guess....)
so, i am going to run it like this for now, no thermostat, and see how it goes.....
oh, and a bonus, my damn core support is cracking apart! it appears that someone has already done a half assed braze repair in the past, but who knows. so, not sure how i am going to attack this one yet, thinking of a temp repair for the summer, (which i wasn't going to admit to), but what the heck, i might try it just to see how it goes. i promise it doesn't involve sheet metal screws or duct tape.
