Most blown head gaskets I have seen or cracked heads, run quit a while before ever getting hot, once they blew all the coolant out, they got hot. But as long as we kept them full they ran fine.
How about a reverse rotation water pump, if the engine is a
'80-'85, wouldn't that have a serpentine belt with a reverse rotation pump? This is where I would go next after checking out the block drain plugs.
Joe
