1963 Dart 170 2 Door Post Resto

So, a little update. Cut the center out of the thermostat as suggested to see if there would be any difference...there wasn't.

Adjusted the timing back to 2.5BTDC as per spec and reset car to get it to run right. No change. Finally got a temperature gun and checked the rad and found the middle was almost 100 F cooler than the outside. Drained it and checked with my scope to find a bunch of tubes blocked completely.

I did blow out the engine when the core plugs were out and again with the water pump and head off and even flushed it before first drive. I guess there was a pile stuck somewhere that dislodged and clogged it all up when it got hot and the vibration from driving. Either way, looks like cooling issue is found. Dropped off the rad at the shop today to be hot tanked, flushed and flow checked before getting it back. Hopefully that'll be the end of my cooling issues. Will be putting in a new high flow quality 160F thermostat and new rad cap while I'm at it. Had a FlowKooler water pump ordered but I think I'm going to cancel if the rad was plugged that bad.

Next will be the fuel line reroute. Is it better to go rubber or is metal fine, as long as I leave room to remove the valve cover for valve adjustment?

I tried the spacer, but it never helped and the car ran like crap, even after multiple attempts to adjust carb setup. Went back to original.

Have one more small thing to look at. Have to pull the steering wheel and look at signal cancel cam. When turning one direction it clicks even with the signal off. Hopefully it's a minor adjustment.