The timing chain, and sprocket swap went over well. The one piece oil pan gasket came with 4 screw in dowels with tabs on them so you can hang your gasket tight to the bottom of the block and then put your pan up and its all aligned. Great idea... however if you a pull a me and snap one of them off by accident, fishing a sheared plastic thread out of your engine block while working around an exposed oil pick up, is a real...

. Once that fight was over and the pan was back up, i installed the cover back on and said gaskets, it was really nice that the bottom timing cover gasket was a part of the oil pan and no rtv bullshit was needed.
Also threw a new water pump on since I had one available for free. Ive known by the temp gauge that the thermostat was probably stuck open since i bought it, as the temp just fluctuates with your driving, changed it with a stock 195. Fired it up anddddd over heating.. hmm thats odd. Triple check water pump PN# to ensure its a clockwise rotating model for my truck, checked out. Air lock... hmm maybe but should work itself out with the rad cap off, nope just overheating again...Ok, well the pump was free so maybe its just not working.. took the thermostat out of truck, and with the rad cap off ran it. Doesnt overheat, and i can see movement in the coolant, so the pump is working... I tried two different thermostats and tested them both with a torch and a heat gun to check their functinality in terms of opening. I shot my IR gauge at the manifold where the thermostat is, and then shot the IR gun at the temp sender location ( between cyl 1-3 ). The manifold temp was about 185 ish and the heads temp was around 230. At that temp, my gauge is pretty much getting to the overheated area and i shut off the engine everytime to let it cool down. Online research showed average temp is about 210, not sure where or how thats measured though.
For now im just running it with the fail safed failed thermostat in the housing as that way the engine runs a little cold but its better than warped heads..
Also got that aftermarket black trim off the truck!
Im hoping to find an aftermarket temp gauge thatll give me accurate reading in numbers.
First question is, what are the tabs on the temp gauge as per temperatures?
If my gauge isnt faulty, which it could be or the sending unit ( the unit is a month old ) what would cause the engine to overheat before the thermostat is opening, or is that even possible?
could trapped air really cause these issues. I ran the truck multiple times with the cap off but without the thermostat opening im assuming air wouldnt get out anyway. People recommend drilling two small holes in the thermostat to allow air to pass?
With no higher point than the filler,is there a good way to ensure no air trapped?. ive always had a second point to open usually
Took some photos of the underside of the truck as i was inspecting it further. Its in ALOT better shape than the blazer was. theres still original black paint under the truck. Should be good once i get the few cancer spots all fixed up this summer and then if i tackjle the surface rust i should be ahead of some problem areas.