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My 78 is getting too hot. I've done a few things to it since it was on the road, so keep in mind that I'm unable to drive it right now, only idle it when backed out of my basement garage. Here's what's been done to it since I drove it a few years ago that relate to the cooling system: -Deleted the coolant bypass line just to tidy up the engine bay. I plugged the thermostat housing and plugged the small coolant line that comes off the heater hose hard line by the #1 spark plug. -Tested the 180* thermostat in boiling water and drilled out the tiny bypass hole in the thermostat just a wee bit after reading about others who had bypassed the coolant line attached to the manifold. -Pulled the radiator out, flushed the not-so-cruddy mixture out of it, then poured in a gallon of water with a measured bit of muratic acid and shook/rotated/flipped/worked the mixture throughout the radiator to hopefully clean the passages. After a few minutes, I emptied, rinsed like mad and stuck it back in the car and filled with coolant/water mix. It's as full as it can get without lifting the front of the car and topping the radiator off. No air pockets, as far as I can tell. I ran the heater a few times to circulate it through the heater core and squeezed the hoses while topping it off. New Sankei radiator cap. -Replaced the aged water pump with a new Asin water pump with the cast propeller, and not the thin blade propeller found in some cheaper aftermarket units. Now, all of that above was done before I realized any overheating problems. I figured most of this was good practice on an old car and it makes me a little less nervous about a long trip with the wife with me if certain parts are replaced. I don't want to swap a water pump in a parking lot somewhere. This car always seems to take quite a while to warm up. (been that way since I bought it 4 years ago from original owner who did not tinker with it at all) Anyway, as it idles and (very) slowly reaches operating temp, the gauge continues to rise. Before I parked it in the basement a few years ago, it would barely get past the middle on the temp gauge in hot weather. Now, idling, it gets to 3/4+ before I shut it off, open the hood and let it cool down. Something I've done has affected it. Today when I shut it off at the 3/4 point, there was a bubbling sound coming from the thermostat housing and the coolant overflow was at the lower level line. I don't think I've ever seen the coolant overflow bottle with any coolant in it since I've had it. I thought I read enough from others who deleted those coolant bypass lines with no problems, but maybe that's causing this to happen. Or, did I unclog something in the radiator with the acid /water flush?

1972 240z My gauges are not working properly anymore, either due to wiring or due to calibration issues. What gauges do you recommend/use? Tried some $70 set from napa but it wouldn't fit right. I saw on thezstore.com they had some gauges but they were like $400 for fuel, temp, and oil pressure. I would prefer black or white faces and that they light up. Thanks guys.