I bought
the oem new on eBay. I think for my next step I’m going to look at the thermostat. Again the car is a new project to me and not sure it’s history. The wiring was a disaster but I’ve made a lot of progress. I can’t imagine that the needle wouldn’t even move if the thermostat was stuck open but I can’t think of what else is going on. I liked the idea mentioned earlier of putting the thermostat in a water at specific temps to see where or if it reads on the gauge. I can keep it attached to the wire and ground the outside and it should read if it’s a correct setup. Let me know if you figure out your issue. Do you have footage at your wire connection?