junkyard 396ss coolant advice

[James Northrup]

i have a '73 gmc sprint with a 396ss motor in it.

its from a 68 chevelle SS with oval ports, according to the kid who sold it
to me, and the heads have been ported leading me to beleive it very well
could be a factory job and either the 325 or 375 horse edition.  the GMC
sprint was in NO WAY set up for performance at any point when i got it.  it
had a th350 with a 2:73 and a 2nd hand holley 600.

presently it runs a holly vaccuum 750, with stock intake, no AC, bypassed
the heater, and the water-pump is directly belted to the crank pulley.
Accell coil atop a new HEI.

it has a mechanical lock-up-in-4th 700r4 with 4:10 richmond ring& pinion in
a 10(.5?)"  housing, a 1900 cfm 16" electric fan, 2 core radiator from its
original 350 4bbl.  the thermostat is a 195 degree, the fan kicks on at 180
deg+ via a 1-wire copper thermostat and adjustable dial in the radiator
intake.

I'm curious if anyone can comment on said cooling configuration, the
radiator likes to dump out the recirc hose when i shut down the motor.  the
mechanic who installed the longblock tells me the small radiator warrants
the higher thermostat to keep the coolant in the radiator cooling longer
before it kicks into the engine.

yet another mechanic tells me to take the thermostat out entirely, still a
third tells me that the smaller radiator warrants a higher temp and both
mechanics are right, depending on the size of the radiator.

according to mechanic#1, who replaced the intake and carb, he leaned out the
mixture, so it doesn't "dog out" the new longblock.  this just smells
suspicious in light of all its ferocious cooling deficiency.

i haven't even got 100 miles on the new motor, would hate to boil it, anyone
else's experience would help.  do i just need a new 4-core radiator?  or
should i be suscpicious that mechanic#1 is lining up his next longblock
replacement revenue at the  expense of my new rings and bearings?

I'd like to solve the issues with the coolant so i even have an engine that
could bear soem fun stuff, like an efi project. apoligies if its too far off
topic.


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