[lineslinger]

HSSS,
I feel for you man, you are not the first and won't be the last either, thanks for explaining what happened.
After listening to your scenario I am thinking of ditching my surge tank and routing my cooling lines directly from water pump to radiator, any overheat ends up on the road via the vent on the radiator.
I was thinking along the lines of what Brent said, either way, not enough coolant. So the air temperature around the temperature sensor did not get hot enough to alert you even though things were getting hot. I would have thought it would have made the guage jump but I guess it needs that direct contact to relay an accurate reading.
When you get a chance HSSS let us know how things on "the inside" have turned out. Hope damage is minimal, good luck.