Overheating

[joechevy57]

Hello all, I am nearly finished with a 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup riding on a 77 model K10 4wd chassis with a 402 big block and automatic. I bought a Dessert Cooler from LMC and was told it would cool a big block. We took the truck on a 2hr road trip to Pigeon Forge, TN and it ran about 185-190 on the temp gauge. However, on the 2hr trip home it climbed as high as 210-215. I am running an electric pusher fan in front of the radiator with no mechanical fan. Most of the interstate trip was with the fan off but I did try turning it on some but it didn't seem to help at all while cruising at 60mph. My gauges are new from Classic Instruments with their sending units. The middle of the gauge reads 190 and the needle mostly stayed to the right of center on the way home meaning 210-215. Could the numbers on the gauge be wrong? Does anybody else have a big block with cooling problems? Took the truck out tonight around town and it never got over 195 by the gauge. Also added an aluminum overflow tank in the last few days and noticed tonight that it had dumped a small amount of coolant on the garage floor. How much heat is too much for a big block? My thermostat is a 180 best I remember. Any help???