yeah, sorry for the hijack too, but at least it's quite relevent to a 283 in a TF
and we're getting somewhere .... the temp sender really should be in the intake where it was designed to be, if you got a "wrong one" then you need to find the right one - if it wasn't the wrong sender, then you have a bad temp gauge or some other problem .... NAPA should have the right one, any for a 283 .... I couldn't tell ya without checking, but my gauge is about straight up when it's at running temp, no idea what happens after I shut it off, but it doesn't blow out water - remember these gauges aren't precision devices but very crude, the sender is just a variable resistance that allows more current flow as it heat up, and the gauge is 50 years old
once the engine is up to temperature, the water in the top of the rad will be very close to the temp thru the engine, find a known good thermometer [don't let yer wife see] and check the rad again .... and
don't fill the rad to the top it needs to have at least an inch for expansion, once you find the level that doesn't push any water out when you shut it off, that's where you leave it, my original works fine down 2" or more - if the puddle when you shut it off is the problem, you're not overheating, that would be when the water is actually boiling and
keeps blowing out [and steam besides] until there's no water in the rad
when I say they like to run hot I mean they do, you should have at least a 180 thermostat, many use a 195, the engine warms up fast and it runs best when it's up at 200 or more, and running a higher pressure cap can cure the minor overflows - the original was a 7# and that's about all you should use with the original rad, but with a desert cooler you should be able to use up to 14#, which allows higher temps without boiling
and "starting issues" when hot is most likely the starter, they get too hot and then crank slow - you need a heavy duty starter [what I got when mine developed hard start issues] and/or a heat shield around the exhaust where it runs nearly touching the starter [what many folks do] .... I don't think you're "overheating" at all, just need to learn the quirks of the beast
Bill
