Reply to "Checking the water temperature"

We Pantera owners as a group worry too much, I believe. 190-230 degrees, if thats a real reading, is ideal. My wife's '97 Z-28 grocery-getter runs 225 ALL the time around town; the fans don't even come on until 240 and redline temp is 250! The Italian gauges & US-made senders are often incompatible, so the water temp and oil pressure need to be calibrated if you must know what the real measurement is. There are two senders (same p/n) one made in Europe and one in the US (or maybe Taiwan) and will give different results. There are two stock gauges- 0-230/'71-72 and 0-260/'73-up. The senders give varying readings with the two gauges. Bourdon-tube mechanical gauges are cheaper & more accurate than stock electric gauges but are difficult to plumb in and only look 'right' if you exchange the gauge faces off the stock instruments- a difficult job.