I tried to bleed the air out by loosening the temp gauge fitting while the engine was running and then tightening it back up when coolant started to come out earlier when I was trying to run it.
To answer some previous questions: yes, we have a rebuilt temp gauge that is hooked up, and we have what I believe is a short water pump which is what the engine had on it when it was purchased. The engine was running when I got it from someone who took it out of a truck of some sort (but I think it was originally in a car) - I heard it run - but it wasn't connected to any kind of a cooling system. Now it overheats within about five minutes.
I don't know what is meant by advanced or retarded timing on these engines because there are no timing marks. Does advancing the timing mean turning the distributor clockwise and retarding the timing mean turning it counterclockwise? I tried to set the timing so the ball on the flywheel lines up with the pointer on the round hole in the bellhousing.
The cooling fan I have fits on the water pump one way, so there isn't a way to get this backwards. On this truck the blades barely clear the radiator's outlet and are about 1/2" from the fins.
