After buying the car and replacing the head and and cam box and all front seals and belts and water pump and hoses, I finally got my 86 running! It runs very well, holds an excellent idle, and drives wonderfully! The only issue I am having is that the cooling fans are not kicking on. I do know after some testing that the thermo valve on the radiator is bad. The coolant temp stays at 3/4 on the gauge when driving and idling. It fluctuates and the temp drops a little during different engine loads when driving. Hoping to get the engine temp down to half on the gauge. I'm not completely comfortable where it is now.

 

Congrats!

 

Here are a couple more pics of the car. Going to wash it and pull it back in the garage..after I clean the garage floor..

 

Here are a few more pics of the car after its bath:

 

Nice job! Is the police car there because they were chasing you ?

 

Nice work!

 

LOL, no, its my work car. My cruiser is issued to me and I get to take it home.

 

Started Sunday night like this:



Then, I came out yesterday morning and started in on what I needed to finish from the previous night:



Then I was finally able to start the engine and let it run and warm up and burn off all the assembly lube and such:



Then after driving the car for awhile and washing it, I was able to tuck it safely back in the garage for the night:

 

Yay! Hope the head stays on this time. I bet it feels good to finally drive her. Go celebrate.

The temp is a little high, but probably nothing to worry about. The gauge might be a little off also. If you have an IR, you can measure the real temperature at the top of the gooseneck. You need to fix the fans. You don't want to get stuck in traffic without them and warp that new head.

 

Modify or replace the throttle cam ASAP. Life is too short to live with terrible throttle response.

 

Congrats! It looks good.

Those thermo switches die...

Also make sure the dash/instruments have a good ground. If the coolant temp "changes" when you step on the brake or turn on the headlights, you have a ground issue, not a cooling issue.

Also crack open the coolant bleeder when the engine is warm. The pressure in the system will help push any air out.

You are running the thermostat, right?

 

Congrats! It is definitely looks nice....and hopefully runs as well as it looks!

I agree. I happen to have one for sale ad well.

 

Cooling fan relay or thermoswitch. Unplug the cable from thermofan and follow clarks guide to jump the low and high speed fans.

 

I picked up some cooling system flush today after work and am planning on running it through and see what happens. Worst case scenario is pulling the radiator and having a shop professionally clean it. Not a big deal, especially if it solves my running issue. I have a new thermo switch to put in and I will do so tonight when I flush the system. I jumpered the fans to work in high speed with the ignition on ans drove it and it made a difference for about ten miles. After that it was back to 3/4 on the gauge. This leads me to believe that the radiator needs flushed and is obstructed.

 

You didn't answer me about the thermostat... Some people take it out, but that will cause the engine to run hotter. Also, if you don't have the belly pan in place, you'll have less air flow over the radiator.