Like I said, How did you verify that it is overheating?
Cars don't usually overheat when it's cold outside and run fine when it's warm.
Did you actually hear bubbling in the radiator and found that the radiator was extremley hot as well as the hoses?
To me it sound like you have a mal-function of either the gauge, the sending unit, or the wiring.
And when you state "Skyrocket", where is the needle on the gauge?

 

well, the radiator would be cold, STARK cold. the needle would creep up about 3/4 the way before i turn it off. the rad would not bubble. there is a needle looking thing that is on the secondary side carb that has a wire that came off, it is a few pictures up. other than that, I have no clue...

 

No. It's on the other side next to the Oil Pressure sender. Little thing with a bullet or spade connector and threads into the rear iron.


$7.99 at napa

http://napaonline.com/masterpages/NO...erature+Sensor

 

then what is the disconnected wire for?

 

Emmisions? Float bowl vent after startup I think? Anyone.

 

If the radiator is cold and there is no bubbling sound coming from the radiator and the upper radiator hose is not hot then it's not overheating. Now you have a clue.

 

3rd on changing the temp sender ...

 

If the radiator is staying cold, and not warming up at all, take the rad cap off and look for buildup inside, if it's clean, make sure the water pump is working. Temp sender would be the 1st part to replace, if the reading doesn't change, check the other items mentioned. The gauge itself could be faulty too, but they usually fail instead of giving erroneous readings.

 

Maybe a stupid question, but is the belt on your water pump? I've also heard of water pumps breaking internally. I think the first thing you should do is verify that you are actually pumping water through the system.

With a cold engine, take off the radiator cap and start the car. Once the engine is warm enough to open the thermostat, you should see water flowing inside the radiator.

 

I say, never rely on 20+ gauges and install a cheap *** Eqquus water temp gauge. Either behind the water pump housing or on the T-stat cover. That will give you a better idea on what is going on....

 

Ok, tomorrow I am going to laser weld the loose wire to the connector that is on my carb, maybe that will help, if it doesn't, then atleast I hooked something up.

 

That is not going to do anything for the problem at hand.
Are you even paying attention to the people that know what they are talking about?
If you won't follow simple instructions and follow-up afterwards and answer the questions that are asked, How are we going to help you?

 

Yes, I understand. The fact is, I cannot spend another dime until friday, this car is draining me beyond my expectations. I love this car. As for right now, I am just trying to get things fixed, and if there is a wire that is sopposted to be connected to a plug, and it is broken, I will fix it. No harm, no foul, worst that can happen is nothing.

I would run the car until the needle peggs the H, but I cannot shake the fact that it may be right. I would hate to lose my engine now, especially after a rebuild recently. I am going outside now to see if my water pump is working. Taking off the Rad cap and starting the car. I will also check the upper hose to see if it is warm, and the radiator as well.

Please, I do not wish to come off as arrogant or blind to what people tell me, I just want to take this a step at a time. Terribly sorry everyone.

 

I can understand that you don't want to damage your engine and I can appreciate that. What we are asking for is that you look at the things we are advising you to do(Which none of them cost a penny to look at ) and let us know the results.
After we know the results then we can advise you on the next step that should be taken.

 

here is the results:

Mech secondaries on sunday.
new thermostat and coolant change yesterday.
Started the car with the rad cap off, has a very lopy idle with tons of smoke. almost like ATF treatment smoke, but to a lesser degree.after a minute (the car has died 3 times, so i put my foot on the gas just to keep the idle) i see the rad bubbling/water moving. I could not check for sure because if i let off the gas it will die. come to think of it, after it "warmed up" for a few minutes, i put the cap back on and it was just flowing coolant, not boiling. when car came to operating temp, smoke stopped. then the temperature rose higher and higher at a quick rate. cut the car off at 3/4 hot, noticed there was thick smoke (thick as in not dilluted with air, just PURE smoke, i believe white) coming out near the thermal reactor/beginning of exhaust from engine. also noticed that there was a little gas leakage coming from outside of the carb. I will be removing the mech secondaries. Radiator and upper coolant pipe are stark cold.

 

Sounds like you have multiple things going on.
1) sounds like it's flooding at start up and verified by leakage of fuel.
Have you pulled a plug and inspected it?
Also have you verified that you have spark at both leading and trailing sides.
On the coolant issue. Need you to remove the t-stat and verify that it is opening when the motor is hot and make sure that the pellet is facing downwards towards the motor.

 

Yes, I have major spark (believe me... my hands feel numb), and i believe the problem with the gas leaking was from the plug/wire thing i was talking about, I did not have it tightened down all the way.

as for thermostat, I dont rememebr seeing a pellet. Would you like me to take pictures of it? It is brand new.

 

Also, when i was reading the haynes manual, it said that the thermostat had to be set in a specific way. I dont know if it is up and down respectively or if i put the down side up. I could not tell, they both looked symmetrical after a quick glance.

 

Don't have any t-stats lying around.
The larger diameter portion will face upwards toward you with the smaller diameter with the spring facing down towards the motor.

 

Yes, I installed that correctly. Mind the horrible MSPaint i drew. the spring part is going into the engine, and the top part with the "handle" inside the Upper Coolant Hose

 

Better yet, I have the old thermostat here with me, let me take some pictures.

 

What you need to do is start the engine and bring it up to operating temp, shut it off and remove the top hose from the t-stat housing and see if there is any water there and whether it is cold or very hot.

 

Here is the pics, the 2nd one is exactly the orientation i have it in the housing.


since the car is already "hot" i will go ahead and check.

 

ok, took off the hose and it was cold coolant/water.

 

^ Well it's in correctly. Just need to see if the water is hot or luke warm or cold up top.