So, three things failed right in a row on me a few months ago.  First, while driving home, my tachometer died suddenly.  No bump in the road, or pop, or anything to give a clue as to why it died, it just went from around 3000 rpm to 0 in a second.  So I replaced the tach board, and it works way better than it ever did before.  The needle doesn't wander around anymore, it's dead on.  After I made sure that the tach was working, I popped the hood for one reason or another, only to see that the water neck was leaking all over the intake manifold. 

So after reading a few sites about thermostats, I decided to get a 160 degree thermo instead of the 195.  I also drilled two 1/8" holes in it to make it a "high flow"  since I have a stuart hi flow water pump.  I also tossed out the cheap chrome water neck that Bubba had put on (the chrome was flaking off the bottom), I went with an iron one instead for $10.  After ruining 2 paper gaskets trying to get everything put back together, I got a PermaDry gasket from Napa, which I now swear by (I have a PermaDry on the oil pan too). 

I go to start her up with the new thermostat, and the battery quickly drains down so that the starter won't engage.  After trying to jump it for 10 minutes, I figure that the battery is totally shot.  One trip to Walmart later, and I'm back in business.

I couldn't be happier, I just got back from a quick thrashing up and down the road, and the thermostat sits right around 150 degrees now as opposed to 200 that it used to sit at.  I may be late to the party, but I'm finally ready for summer now.

Good to hear you ready to cruise.

Glad to see you got it straightened out! It's great when you solve problems! Congrats!

Like all of us, there will be many more happy times that started out from gremlins in these 30-40 year old friends!! Enjoy!!