Today I plumbed the heater in my 53 half ton project truck. So, I took it for a drive to get it warmed up. My original temp gauge said that my temp was 170. I drove it about 5 miles, and then let it idle for a while, assuming that it would rise to at least 180. It never did. I double checked it with an infrared thermometer and sure enough it was betweek 170 and 175 everywhere I measured. I'm glad that my cooling system is keeping it that cool, but is that normal. It was 55 degrees outside when I tried it. It sure seems like it should get hotter than that. I'm sure that I put a thermostat in it when I built it, and I normally always buy 180s. Does this sound normal?

Mike Burns
1940 Chev 1/2 ton
1953 Chev 1/2 ton
1950 Studebaker Starlight Coupe
1947 Indian Chief
1943 Indian 741