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One thing I did forget to mention that may be relevant is after starting the car the temperature is at half on the gauge within three minutes of leaving the house.
It climbs rapidly and then levels out.
Do most Sprints do this or is this particular gauge just a bit lively ??
Any thoughts ??
This is really what you WANT to happen, but most 70s cars rarely achieve. An engine works best at the highest temp it can sustain, the quicker the warmup the better. This is WHY cars have thermostats, to speed up the warmup phase! Having a leccy fan helps as it's not being cooled unnecessarily by the engine driven fan during warmup as the standard car is. Even a viscous fan still runs on idle when not locked in by rising temp. With the Evans coolant too, which heats up faster and sheds heat slower, your situation is unsurprisng. Almost predictable.
I have a Sprint auto about me that has a Davis Craig programmed electric water pump fitted. This works without a thermostat but when cold the pump doesn't run at all, then runs in pulses of maybe 10 secs in every 30 till running temp is acheived, for a quicker warmup. This car also gets to halfway (170 degrees F on the capillary guage) really quickly, then levels off, usually within 2 miles driving. This seems part of the design criteria, even at "normal" temperatures on a cold day, the pump doesn't run continuously. On hot days, if the temp rises above a programmed point with the pump in continuous operation, the fan is deployed. It took a considerable time for me to trust it! But it seems to work well and the running temp is ALWAYS within a handful of degrees of 170F no matter what the ambient is or how fast you go!
Steve