Oh ok, I understand now. Pictures are worth a thousand words. haha Would that work on my car though? That part of the thermostat has a gasket go around it and sits flat on the engine block.

 

Well since the thermostat housing has a bubble basically at the end of it, i was assuming the round end thats facing us in 69s picture is the side that goes up. But thats a good idea. Ill try taking it out and seeing if it stays cooler then.

 

The picture shows "this side up". See if there's room to drill a little closer to the center portion, away from the rubber gasket.

 

alright. ill take a look at it tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for the tips and tricks.

 

ok, i havent done anything with the thermostat yet, but it would NOT surprise me if it was all clogged up and stuck shut. The coolant in the reservoir and radiator is all completely clear and green. But I took off all the hose and piping coming from the heater core, up to the water pump and under the throttle body. The pipes were red and stuff looked like mud. One of the pipes that sits on the passenger side strut tower broke when i dropped it on the ground. So apparently that was corroding away and Im guessing thats what blocked everything up. I cleaned up the inside of the connections as far as I could. I also replaced all the piping and hoses with 1 solid piece of new heater hose for each side of the heater core. So 1 piece goes from the heater core to the water pump, and one goes from the heater core to under the throttle body. I made sure there were no kinks and it wasnt being even close to hit by the alternator or belt.
Now I ordered a new Prestone 180 thermostat and gasket that comes with a lifetime warranty. So even if it was the pipes breaking apart and clogging up the thermostat from the start, at least this way I dont have to worry about getting a faulty thermostat just in case. ...hopefully. haha.
Iill update you all on what happens when I put in the new thermostat, fill her up with coolant, and take her for a drive.

 

Ok, Im just continuing an old thread since Im tired of making a bunch of new ones.
The new problem is kind of really odd. She stays cool so long as Im heavy on the throttle. But when Im off the throttle, the temp goes up. I could be waiting to go at a stop sign, the temp goes up, then i put the pedal down far and the temp goes right back down until i have to let off the throttle again to stay at the speed limit. Then she goes back up.
On the bypass where I am constantly on the pedal, she is fine. But I could be doing 60 on a main road just as well where I am constantly off and on the throttle, and she gets up there a decent way.

To catch everyone up, here is everything that is done that could possibly do with cooling and what I know of the system.
True Cold Air Intake
Heater core was relatively new when I got her
Water pump itself is fine
New water pump gasket
All new heater hose everywhere in the engine bay
Timing chain cover gasket doesnt leak anymore (Im guessing it just appeared to from a different leak)
Throttle body bypass with the coolant lines (so this really throws me off, if it wasnt bypassed i could maybe understand)
180 prestone thermostat and gasket
new thermostat housing
new clamps everywhere
new radiator
2 high performance fans constantly on via switch
functional grill
no a/c so nothing in front of the radiator
no exhaust smoke, so head gasket is fine
no coolant overflow explosion, it regulates coolant fine
all hoses are firm and warm, well hot. except the bottom one is usually just warm.
new radiator cap
I cant add coolant to the radiator, all air bubbles are out and its constantly full

The only thing Im really not sure of, havent tampered with, and have no idea of its condition is really the coolant temp sensor. The car never completely overheated, I dont let it get that hot so its not like I could say it spiked and nothing happened. I wont take the chance.
But unless its just randomly spazzing out and accurate the other times, Im not sure how thats the case either. I dont have a way of measuring the temp aside from the sensor unfortunately.
But its just odd how she cools down when I put the throttle down and stay on it.

 

get the ohm meter out and see what ohms is at the temp sensor. pretty sure you can use this 4th Gen LT1 F-body Tech Articles

 

Ill have to see if I can find one. Mine went out on me last week.

 

Alright, I picked up a decent looking temp sensor from the junkyard on a low mileage camaro, so Im hoping the best comes from it. I also got the clip for it to splice in to replace mine in case the clip is bad.
I also picked up a different coolant reservoir that I can place in a different spot and gravity feed the radiator from the coolant tank.
Lastly, I picked out the thermostat out of it as well, which Im guessing is the stock 195 since it never seemed tampered with at all. So Im going to take out my thermostat and boil them both to see if mine opens as it should and compare it to the time it takes the other one to open.
So Ill get started on that shortly when my car cools down and let you know the results.

 

FYI, most if not all thermostats (at least that I've dealt with) have the temperature stamped onto it, to help avoid guessing.