The '80-'88 3/8" NPT gauge senders have both the button & blade. I have the original button type from my '86 parts car & a blade type (Wells) from '93 when I put gauges into my '81. Believe most if not all current production ones will be blade.I recently purchased one for my build and wanted one with a blade connection too, what I had read was that the ones with the blade are for cars with an idiot light instead of a temperature gauge.
Have any of you heard of that, or is that just BS?
Adding in a couple of pics.Yes you can, that is what I did with mine.
Also, I put three 3/32 holes in the thermostat flange to allow water flow while warming up the engine. It was a suggestion that I read in one of my car magazines a couple of years ago. It only takes a couple extra minutes to warm up, but there is no cold water shock to the engine block.
If you do add the small holes to the thermostat, be careful not to make them too large, or too many of them. I went through 3 thermostats before I got it right.
The small holes also allow the temp gauge to receive info from the sending unit before the thermostat opens.
You would probably want one 1/16th inch hole in the thermostat.Adding in a couple of pics.
The sending unit for the mech temp gauge, and an early failed attempt at putting the holes in the thermostat. Too many holes, and too large as well. With that many large holes, the engine never got up to temp high enough to use the heater at a comfortable level. View attachment 142430View attachment 142432
Tested two senders. One for a 79 Elky and one i had used in my 76 Chevelle. Neither started out with as high a resistance reading as on the chart but both dropped down to 177 ohms after being heated.and the results are?...
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