Brian,
Yes, my '57s are all automatics. Authenticity is very important on my cars. They even have producton water pumps with the Cleveland foundry markings on them. The cars are driven 12 months/yr including many hours (seems like too many hours) in temperatures over 100 degrees. The temp gauge will read high if the engine is restarted after a fuel stop, but it recovers quickly. As stated before, they don't like running under 1500 RPM either. In any case, these cars don't lose coolant. I'd probably go into coronary arrest if it ever burped coolant on the lower control arm.
I guess the final analysis is something like this: "If everything is the way it's supposed to be, there should be no problem". The hottest temperature I've ever driven a Bird in was 118 degrees. But that was a "C" Bird with a 292 and standard transmission. No problem with that one either.
Tom
P.S. Anti-Freeze mix is 30%-50%. If more than 50% is used, the temp gauge will show it.
[ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: nomadbird ]
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