All of this has got me to thinking that it MAY make sense to install a fan clutch. As to whether the '78 GMC engine ever had one, I could not say. I do recall my Dad telling me that the head on the engine had to be rebuilt since a second cousin of mine borrowed the truck about 10 years ago and drove it without any radiator fluid in it, or an insufficient amount. I distinctly remember when I inherited the truck five years ago, the blue GMC engine had an orange head on it, that tells me that the head that replaced the original must have come off of a 230 Chevy engine. I never saw a fan clutch ever on the truck, though.
Since the 1984 body that the rebuilt engine was swapped into 2 years ago was a Canadian built truck, the original owner put Sunpro Fº/Cº aftermarket temperature and oil pressure gauges on the dash. The temp guage is reading the engine temp too warm, shows about 240º. I had a radiator shop put a gauge on the block and it read nowhere near that high. This of course, was after I switched the thermostat to 195º vs. the 180º one that is stock!! I'd like to find a Sunpro temp guage that has the Celsius and Farenheit readings on it like the old one, but so far have been unsuccessful.
My goal, like everyone else's, is to have the engine run as long as possible, and for that reason I'm going to install a fan clutch or a flex fan that I see in the LMC catalogs and see if it works.
Any more comments are welcome, and thanks for the tip on where to get a bracket for a P/S pump. If you have any more opinions on those Volcano contraptions that fit inside the air cleaner and are supposed to get better fuel economy, say so.
