Well, I got the cooling system and battery cables wrapped up. Filled the coolant up through the heater hose that goes into the intake manifold in an effort to get as much in the motor as I could. Filled it until the radiator was about half full. Reconnected the heater hose to the heater core, got the cables done on the battery and fired it up.
I let it run in the garage, with the radiator cap off for about 45-minutes to an hour, until the coolant quit going up and down in the radiator. I was also running the AC the whole time. Once the level steadied out, I topped it off, put the cap back on the radiator, and filled the overflow to the HOT level. With the 195 degree thermostat in it and the AC blasting the whole time, it never got over 205 degrees on the Autometer gauge. I also noticed that it does seem to run a bit leaner at idle, at that temperature. The exhaust doesn't smell as rich.
I'm also happy to report, no leaks anywhere, either!
Here are some pictures:
The engine compartment all back together. I know... at some point I'm going to have to pull the left inner fender and repaint it to match the right one...
You must be registered for see images attach
The fitting for the temperature gauge that pretty much started this last fiasco. Thank God it's not leaking!
You must be registered for see images attach
The replacement battery tray is pretty hard to see. I replaced the positive cable and had to do some insulating and rewiring along with it. This is in preparation for the sub woofer that will be going in it next...
You must be registered for see images attach
Here are the gauges after about 45-minutes of idling in the garage. Oil pressure and temperature are plenty acceptable to me. This is with the AC cranking too.
You must be registered for see images attach
Tomorrow evening, I plan to run some errands with it and see how it does in traffic. I don't anticipate any issues. Maybe this weekend I'll see how my son likes cruising around in it, too.