[Daniel Jones]

> When I did the initial start I utilized a shop fan and was able to run
> at 2000 rpm the first 20-30 minutes with the temp staying below 200.

That is interesting. Are your electric fans rotating the proper direction?
A number of Panteras were delivered with one of the fans hooked up wrong
which led to overheating.

> As far as the t-stat is concerned, one of my shop guys picked it up at
> Pep Boys and more likely than not just got one off the rack. This could
> well be part of the problem.

I hope it is something so simple.

> Also what is the proper rotation of the water pump? CW or CCW?

Ugh, I forget which is which but it is standard, not reverse rotation
like the serpentine belt 5.0L Fords.

> Finally I pulled the heads and found a head gasket on backwards. It is
> not hard to do on the Clevelands.

I did that myself on my first engine build. Shot a nice little shower
of coolant out of the radiator with the cap off.

Dan Jones